TACLOBAN CITY—The Regional Development Council (RDC) approved during a full council meeting last month the establishment of a Yolanda memorial and learning center that will not only serve as a constant reminder of the havoc caused by the supertyphoon, but also an educational center on disaster mitigation and climate-change adaptation.
The project, proposed by the city government of Tacloban, the Departments of Tourism and Science and Technology, has an estimated cost of P602 million, including the operation and maintenance expense of its first year of operation.
The creation of the memorial and learning center is a priority project of the RDC to support its thrust of “pursuing a vibrant tourism industry and resilient communities” as indicated in the regional development plan for 2017 to 2022. A copy of the approved project proposal and program of work was furnished to the BusinessMirror.
The Eastern Visayas Yolanda Memorial and Learning Center will be established in a 1-hectare property of the city government at the Tacloban North Resettlement Area in Barangay Suhi, where some of the families living in hazard zones were relocated.
Based on the proposal, the design of the center buildings will be spiral in shape to depict cyclical movement of storms. A circular building will be placed in the middle of the spiral buildings to represent the eye of the storm.
The project will have two main components, the Memorial Museum that will house memorabilia, a compendium of photos, video materials, anthology of stories of survival and related literature; and a learning center with climate-change research materials, training rooms, a laboratory for weather tracking using the latest technologies, and rehabilitation and recovery plans and initiatives.
“The valuable lessons learned and good practices instituted are best shared through an Eastern Visayas Yolanda Memorial and learning center,” explained the rationale of the proposal. “The establishment of the Center responds to the Yolanda Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan’s objective to increase resilience and capacities of communities in coping with future hazard events.”
The museum will not only be a memorial to a disaster, “but a salute to the power, character and grace of the human spirit”, it added.
“The memorial will tell our story: A story of a people who lost so much, yet were determined to rise above the unparalleled disaster, showing the world their resilience and faith; a people fired up with courage, strengthened by humor and buoyed up by overwhelming help, sympathy and prayers from all corners of the world,” its rationale added.
“The learning center will not only be a repository of photographs, records and remnants of a disaster, but will be one that strongly advocates and imparts lessons on risk reduction, disaster and crisis preparedness, resilience, climate-change adaptation and care for the environment.”
The plan is to establish three buildings in the area for a museum, a knowledge center and a research laboratory.
The museum and knowledge center will have a reception area where guests will be welcomed to register and pay an entrance fee. There will be foyers that will lead to two of its five halls.
At the beginning of the museum tour, a guide will brief the guests about the center and its facilities. A short documentary on Supertyphoon Yolanda will be shown before the guests view the gallery of photos and memorabilia. The photo gallery will showcase still photos, newspaper clippings and assorted items.
It will also show photos of Leyte, Biliran and Samar islands before and after the typhoon to show the extent of the damage brought by the typhoon, pictures of national and global search, rescue and relief operations, images of resiliency, strength and hope reflected on the faces of the people, snapshots of government and non-governmental organization initiatives on rehabilitation and photos of building back better and recover.
The second hall, the Yolanda Knowledge Center and Simulation Room, envisions to instill on the
visitors an awareness and comprehension on disasters and crisis situations and the risks and vulnerabilities that communities are exposed to through audio-visual presentations, interactive platforms, posters and simulators.
There will be different simulation machines that will allow guests to experience different climatic and weather conditions, like typhoons, storm surges and tsunamis. There will be trained center guides who will explain the different weather phenomena to the visitors.
The third hall will house the Yolanda Art Gallery, a souvenir shop and a mini-theater where locally and internationally produced films inspired by Yolanda will be shown. The theater, will also serve as a venue for local film makers to showcase their independently produced films.
The fourth hall will be a lecture room and library where trainings and workshops on climate-change adaptation, disaster-risk reduction and management, safety, first aid and rescue and related topics can be held regularly. A library will also be set up as a repository of reading materials related to Yolanda, climate change and disaster preparedness.