Marcos: Disaster department now needed, expect more calamities
AMID the rising threat from more frequent extreme weather incidents, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” R. Marcos Jr. called on Congress to finally pass the bill creating the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR).
In a press conference on Wednesday as he heard the initial reports from government officials on the aftermath of the big earthquake in Northern Luzon, Marcos was asked if he thought the temblor, which caused great damage in at least two regions, would give more impetus to the bill creating the DDR. He agreed, and said the DDR will help boost the country’s preparedness, not just from quakes but from the effects of the climate change such the heat wave, which have recently hit North America and Europe and have caused massive forest fires and water shortages
“So these are the things that we have to be careful of. We need more capability than we have now,” Marcos said.
“We are already experts when it comes to typhoons and we are knowledgeable when it comes to earthquakes, but the dangers—the danger that the effect — the dangers that the effects of climate change present are different, that’s why we need a specialist agency,” he added.
In his State of the Nation Address (SONA) last Monday, Marcos stressed the importance of “disaster-proof planning” of communities as the climate change led to rising sea levels and more extreme weather.
“Our planning for the future should include all the mitigation— all the science and the knowledge and the learnings on the mitigation of these kinds of disasters,” Marcos said.
Marcos, however, did not include the bill creating the DDR among his 19 priority legislation, which he announced during his SONA.
Former President Rodrigo R. Duterte also pushed for the creation of a similar department during his administration, but the 18th Congress failed to pass its implementing law.
The proposed department would have been more empowered compared to the existing National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).