Sen. Bong Go on Monday, 7 November, renewed his push for his proposed Senate Bill No. 188 which aims to establish a Department of Disaster Resilience.
The said measure seeks to create a highly specialized agency that will be tasked with ensuring adaptive, disaster-resilient, and safe communities.
Go outlined the reasons a cabinet-level agency for disaster preparedness, mitigation, and response should be established by the government.
“Bago pa dumating ang bagyo, preposition of goods, ilikas kaagad ang mga kababayan natin sa ligtas na lugar. Kung magkakaroon tayo ng isang departamento o mas i-empower natin ang NDRRMC, mayroon pong nakatutok sa kanila,” he added.
SBN 188 aims to establish the DDR which will bring together all essential functions and mandates currently scattered among various disaster-related agencies.
Once established, it shall be primarily responsible for implementing programs, projects and activities to ensure that communities are disaster-resilient, adaptive and safe.
Moreover, the bill also 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 infrastructures, 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.
Every year, around twenty typhoons visit the Philippines with at least five of them being destructive. Stronger typhoons require either preemptive or mandatory evacuation of people, often ending up cramped in schools and gymnasiums. The Philippines is also along the Pacific Ring of Fire, causing around 100 felt earthquakes every year.