Call to create disaster department pushed
Sen. Bong Go has renewed his call for the creation of a Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) to ensure quicker response and more proactive and holistic approach to dealing with calamities and other natural disasters.
He made the appeal following the earthquake that struck Northern Luzon, particularly Abra province, on Wednesday. The earthquake was felt in Metro Manila and other areas.
“I’m confident our government is always prepared to help our countrymen recover. I’m also willing to help our affected countrymen in whatever capacity,” he said in a statement.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology initially measured the quake at magnitude 7.3 but later revised it to 7.0. The epicenter was about three kilometers northwest of the municipality of Tayum in Abra province, and was also felt in nearby areas and various parts of Luzon.
The disaster, according to Go, makes his long-running clamor for the establishment of the DDR even more relevant.
“Once established, we will have a Cabinet secretary-level department whose primary tasks are not limited to extending immediate assistance but also ensuring the rapid recovery and rehabilitation of affected communities,” said Go in Filipino. “Immediate return to normalcy is one of the most important mandates of the envisioned DDR.”
Go has reintroduced in the 19th Congress Senate Bill 188 to establish the DDR. The measure seeks to create a highly specialized agency that will be tasked with ensuring adaptive, disaster-resilient and safe communities.
The DDR will bring together all essential functions and mandates currently scattered among various disaster-related agencies.
To support the DDR’s functions and responsibilities, an Integrated Disaster Resilience Information System would be created to serve as a database for all relevant disaster risk reduction and climate change information.
Moreover, the bill provides for the establishment of a Humanitarian Assistance Action Center, a one-stop shop for the processing and release of goods, equipment and services, in order to guarantee the timely delivery of assistance to disaster-stricken areas.
It likewise provides for remedial measures for areas under a state of calamity, such as the imposition of price ceiling on basic necessities and prime commodities, programming or reprogramming of funds for the repair of public infrastructure and grant of no-interest loans by lending institutions to vulnerable groups or individuals.
The measure establishes the National Disaster Operations Center and Alternative Command and Control Centers to monitor, manage and respond to disasters.
There will also be a Disaster Resilience Research and Training Institute which will offer training and collect, manage and share information to improve the country’s resilience.
“I will never stop pushing for this proposed measure because the life of every Filipino is important. Let’s not wait for another tragedy or disaster to happen before we take action. Let’s act now to protect our countrymen,” he said.
Go likewise called on his fellow senators to pass SB 193, or his Mandatory Evacuation Center Bill, that will require the establishment of such safe, dedicated and equipped centers in every province nationwide.
The bill also provides the minimum requirements for every evacuation center, including the location, structural or building capacity and amenities and accessibility.
In particular, the evacuation centers shall be constructed and designed to withstand super typhoons or wind speeds of at least 300 kilometers per hour and seismic activity of at least magnitude 8.0.
The evacuation centers should be calamity-resilient and in accordance with the specifications of Republic Act No. 6541, otherwise known as the National Building Code of the Philippines and should be at par with the standards set by the International Building Code.
Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Loren Legarda on Wednesday also called for the passage of a department that would handle risk reduction during and after disasters like flooding, earthquake and typhoons.
During the third session at the Senate on Wednesday, Cayetano manifested on the floor that the Senate leadership ask the Palace to certify the bill as urgent. He filed a bill seeking the creation of an Emergency Response Department.
“So personally, I’ll be drafting a letter addressed to Malacañang asking this bill to be certified urgent, but if the majority leader can consider it in the rules committee meeting, if the Senate would like to ask that this bill be certified as urgent, I would greatly appreciate it,” Cayetano added.