La Castellana will need help to feed its 4,427 evacuees over a prolonged period of time, Mayor Rhummyla Nicor Mangilimutan said on Wednesday, Jan.15.
She said her town does not have the resources to spend about P15 million a month for the current evacuees’ food and even worst should the number of displaced persons increase under Alert Level 4.
La Castellana’s annual budget is about P355M, which also has to be used for other services for the rest of the town residents, she said.
The town has a population of about 84,000 who also need basic and social services, she said.
Mangilimutan raised her concerns at a meeting with Office of Civil Defense Administrator Ariel Nepomuceno at the Capitol in Bacolod City on Wednesday.
She wants to know who will take care of the La Castellana evacuees if they are transferred to a tent city in Himamaylan.
La Castellana residents cannot be brought to Himamaylan yet as their “tent city” is not ready, she added.
Mangilimutan said she has not signed a memorandum of agreement with Himamaylan on the relocation of evacuees.
The details on how the evacuees will be cared for have to be worked out, she said.
Meanwhile, the town government is not bringing evacuees living outside the 6-kilometer danger zone, who went home last week, back to the evacuation centers, she said.
Mangilimutan said La Castellana is compliant with the rule that only persons within the 6-kilometer danger zone must evacuate.*