The leadership of the House of Representatives is ready to crack the whip in pushing for the swift passage of the bill creating the Department of Disaster Resilience.
(ALAN PETER CAYETANO FACEBOOK / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano has renewed his call for the fast-tracking of the measure which was being debated on the floor before the sine die adjournment last May.
“While our government is now focused on its fight against COVID-19 pandemic, we also have to be prepared to respond to inevitable natural disasters like floods, typhoons, and earthquakes,” Cayetano said.
In his State of the Nation Address last week, President Duterte called on Congress to swiftly pass the measure, saying that natural disasters have become “poverty creators.”
Cayetano strongly backed the chief executive as he stressed the immediate need to manage the “dual disaster” of natural disasters and poverty in an integrated, systematic, and cohesive manner.
“As much as we wish for the opposite, this pandemic could not be the last calamity that our country will face, so we need to fast track the passage of the Department of Disaster Resilience,”the House leader said.
Cavite Rep. Abraham Tolentino said he expects strong support for the immediate approval of the measure.
Both Cayetano and Tolentino are co-authors of House Bill 5989, the Disaster Resilience Act, seeking to create the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) which will solely focus on disaster preparedness, prevention, mitigation, response, recovery, and rehabilitation.
Cayetano, who is a principal author of the bill, reiterated his challenge to his colleagues to come up with long-lasting solutions, programs, and mechanisms to address calamities.
He particularly cited the need to speed up rehabilitative efforts after every disaster.
“Basically, sa disaster response, ang gusto nating ma-achieve sa Congress ay hindi lang maging reactionary ang government, kundi proactive,” he said. (Basically what we in Congress want to achieve in disaster response is for the government to be proactive and not reactionary.)
HB 5989 consolidates the bill filed by Cayetano and Tolentino with 33 other legislative measures authored by Reps. XJ Romualdo (PDP-Laban, Camiguin); Alfred Vargas (NUP, Quezon City); Joel Mayo Almario (PDP-Laban, Davao Oriental); Lord Alan Jay Velasco (PDP-Laban, Marinduque); David Suarez (PDP-Laban, Quezon); Ferdinand Hernandez (NUP, South Cotabato); and Erico Go Yap (ACT-CIS Partylist), among others.
Citing a study conducted by the Institute of Economics and Peace, Tolentino said the Philippines topped the list of countries facing the highest risk of climate hazards such as floods, cyclones, and droughts.
It noted that 47 percent of the population reside in areas with high risks of climate hazards.
“These hazards can increase the likelihood of violent conflict through its impact on resource availability, livelihood , security, and migration,” said Tolentino, whose district was among the areas that bore the impact of last year’s Taal volcano eruption.
“Given the increasing frequency of natural and man-made disasters, the Philippine government has recognized that a national coordinated and cooperative effort is necessary to improve the country’s capacity to withstand and recover from catastrophes and emergencies,” he added.