Unacceptable.
That's how Albay 2nd district Rep. Joey Salceda described the growing number of casualties from typhoon "Agaton's" recent hammering of the country’s central islands.
“That kind of casualty level is unacceptable. We knew this typhoon was coming. We knew areas that were vulnerable. Those deaths were neither completely unpredictable nor unavoidable. More could have been done, but institutional handicaps are they. And those handicaps kill,” said Salceda, chairman of the House Committee on Ways and Means.
The Bicol solon, who became known for his aptitude on disaster response during his days as Albay governor, noted that the death toll from Agaton has risen to 172, with two million people displaced.
According to Salceda, the casualty count could have been reduced if not totally avoided “if there were a national agency of trained experts conducting disaster preparedness operations and prepositioning preemptive evacuation preps year-round".
“The problem, and we have been frustrated to repeat this all the time, is that the NDRRMC (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council) is coordinative. It does not have the personnel, resources, access to jurisdiction, or ability to overrule local handicaps. You need that during a disaster,” he pointed out.
“It’s clear to me that we did not learn the lessons of 'Odette' because we did not have the institutions needed to learn it. We have some of the world’s best experts in DRR. We just are unable to use them,” Salceda said. Odette wrought havoc in parts of Visayas and Mindanao last December.
Salceda also says that “being unable to preemptively declare a state of imminent calamity affected the ability of local government units to mobilize early preparedness, especially given election ban on spending".
As such, he renewed calls for the creation of the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR), whose charter he principally authored.
“Because they could not declare a state of calamity in advance, the exemptions on election ban spending could not be availed of. It’s frustrating because it’s a policy issue that could have been fixed by the DDR. I’m seething because those deaths were absolutely, frustratingly avoidable,” said the House leader.
“Would I say that that inability caused many if not most of the deaths this time around? Certainly. Yes. It’s frustrating because it’s a simple policy gap. It’s frustrating when policy gaps kill. We at the House already passed this bill," he said, adding that he is "exasperated by the attitude" among some in both the legislative and executive that any creation of new institutions "is a waste, or some violation of rightsizing the government".
“First thing in the post-election session, we should do it. The Senate should hand us a bill over...we know it’s necessary. What the next President should be given opportunity to focus on is strengthening an institution we shall have created by the time the new term starts," reckoned Salceda, who was known for his "zero casualty doctrine" during his tenure as governor.