RESIDENTS of Bantayan will now be able to rest easier amid storms after the completion of a P9.2 million evacuation center in Barangay Ticad in the northern Cebu town.The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Cebu Province turned over the completed evacuation center with storage area for food packs to the municipality last Friday, July 8, 2022.The center can accommodate over 1,000 people, the Municipality said.Built under the DILG’s 2020 Assistance to Municipalities, the center features bunk beds, separate female and male comfort rooms, a kitchen and mess hall, and a storage room, among others, the DILG said.Work on the center began in August 2021 and ended in March 2022, according to the municipality.During the turnover ceremony, DILG Cebu Provincial Director Ian Kenneth Lucero said the DILG had funded over P87.37 million worth of projects in Bantayan including “the rehabilitation of 25 barangay halls, 17 day care centers, civic centers, multipurpose building, repair of transport terminal, and water system.”Bantayan Mayor Arthur Despi expressed hope that more projects would be given to the municipality, after Lucero said that the municipality had P9 million in newly downloaded funds under the Financial Assistance to Local Government Units 2021.Bantayan was among the hardest hit by Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in 2013, and since then, local leaders have taken active steps to minimize harm during typhoons through preparedness efforts.