Senator Christopher “Bong” Go on Thursday said he supports President Duterte’s call to amend Republic Act No. 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 and streamline the government’s response to natural calamities.
Go said it is more practical to amend the law and make it more attuned to the needs of the times, especially in terms of immediate rescue, relief and rehabilitation.
“We should be one-step ahead of the government ebcause we do not know when another crisis or calamity like what we are facing right now will happen again,” Go said in a statement.
The administration ally said he agrees with Duterte’s belief the current law poses as a legal hurdle that prevents swift government action whenever the country experiences a calamity or disaster.
Go said he is already asking for inputs from concerned authorities on how to amend the law and expedite the process of declaring a state of calamity so that public funds for disaster response can be released faster.
For his part, Go said he supports the call of the President to improve the existing mechanisms on disaster response so that the next administration can proactively cope with calamities and other disasters.
“I ask our colleagues in Congress to support what I believe is our aspiration to make the government’s disaster response more effective.
The lawmaker also asked Congress to expedite the passage of the bill seeking to create the Department of Disaster Resilience.
Go earlier filed Senate Bill No. 205, which seeks to create a highly specialized agency with a clear unity of command that will be tasked with ensuring adaptive, disaster-resilient and safe communities.
“The proposed Department of Disaster Resilience will coordinate with national and local governments so that before a typhoon arrives, preparations are already done,” Go said.
“This department will also be tasked to take the lead in the rehabilitation and recovery efforts. Back to normalcy would be the immediate target of the department,” the senator stressed.