Senator Christopher “Bong” Go on Sunday, October 30 said the extent of devastation caused by Tropical Storm Paeng stirs the urgent need to pass the proposed Department of Disaster Resilience bill.

“The extent of devastation caused by this typhoon and recent calamities makes our call to establish the Department of Disaster Resilience and to build mandatory evacuation centers in every town, city and province more relevant than ever,” Go said in a statement.

“As we commiserate with those who have lost lives, let us do our best to ensure we can save more lives now and protect more lives in the future,” the senator further said.

Go said the damage brought about by the recent typhoon also highlighted the need for the government to focus on building a more disaster-resilient nation.

This includes, he said the establishment of safe and clean evacuation centers in every city, province and municipality nationwide as embodied in his Senate Bill No. 193.

But the creation of the Department of Disaster Resilience, under Senate Bill No. 188, must be a priority, he said.

According to Go, the proposed department shall concentrate on three key result areas, namely: disaster risk reduction, disaster preparedness and response, and recovery and building forward better.

He also said the measure seeks to unify and streamline all responsibilities and provide a clearer chain of command, more responsive mechanisms and a more holistic, proactive approach in addressing crisis situations.

“Patuloy lang po tayong magbayanihan at makipagtulungan sa ating pamahalaan para sama-sama nating malampasan ang isa na namang hamon sa katatagan at pagkakaisa nating mga Pilipino (Let's continue to be brave and cooperate with our government so that together we can overcome yet another challenge to the stability and unity of us Filipinos),” Go emphasized.