As super typhoon Karding batters the country with strong winds and torrential rainfall, Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda thinks it's high-time to establish a Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR).
Karding made landfall on Sunday, Sept. 25. Parts of Quezon Province, Aurora, Nueva Ecija, and Bulacan have been placed under Signal number 5 by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
READ: Super Typhoon Karding
“Karding will not be the last super typhoon, and it might not even be the last just this year,” Salceda began on Sunday, Sept. 25.
“The Eastern Seaboard, which tends to get hit by extreme weather events, also tends to have poorer provinces. Relying on local resources, or mere coordination by the national government, will not be enough. The local resources are simply not enough. And in extreme events such as supertyphoons, the local responders are also victims, and their institutions are also disrupted,” he explained.
“How can Polillo Islands, for example, respond to the typhoons that almost always strike them when all three municipalities in the area are 3rd or 4th class municipalities? The internal resources and capacity simply do not exist, no matter how well governed these areas are,” the solon posed.
His proposal? The establishment of a DDR to focus on addressing the country’s response to natural disasters.
“So, you need a reserve of exogenous resources for response, as well as continuing capacity development. You need an implementing agency for that. The NDRRMC is not an implementing agency,” he explained.
“The agency must be able to provide exogenous resources for response and rehabilitation. It must be an implementing agency, not merely coordinating council. It must be able to provide continuous training and capacity development,” Salceda added.
Salceda authored House Bill (HB) 48 which mandates the creation of a DDR. The measure, however, has been pending with the House Committee on Government Reorganization since July 26.
In the 18th Congress, HB 5989 which also sought the creation of a DDR was passed on third reading. It fell short in the Senate.
Both chambers of Congress had come to a consensus that the proposed agency would fall under the Office of the President, Salceda said.
“It doesn’t have to be a department. As long as the head of the Office is Cabinet-rank, so he or she can work with the whole of government, and will have access to the highest levels of decision-making,” he concluded.