A House Bill (HB) seeking the establishment of the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) has been filed by Leyte 1st district Rep. Martin Romualdez and Tingog Party-list Reps. Yedda Romualdez and Jude Acidre.

“It is high time that we create a truly empowered department that will focus on natural hazards and disasters, characterized by unity of command, a science and ICT-based approach and the capacity to take charge of three key result areas: disaster risk reduction; preparedness and response; and recovery, rehabilitation and building forward better,” the authors said in their explanatory note of HB 13.

The proposed Disaster Resilience Act, principally authored by Speakership frontrunner Romualdez, was filed on June 30.

Under the bills, a DDR will be established to improve the national government’s capacity for disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) and to reduce the vulnerabilities of sectors heavily-hit by natural disasters.

“The Department shall be the primary government agency responsible for leading, organizing, and managing the national effort to reduce disaster risk, prepare for and respond to disasters, recover and rehabilitate, and build forward better after the occurrence of disasters,” read Article II, Section 4 of HB 13.

On top of typhoons, earthquakes, volcanic activity, and other usual forms of natural disasters, the authors also included via Article II, Section 4 “Biological and Related Hazards, 1) Epidemic/Pandemic – viral, bacterial, parasitic, fungal, prion infectious diseases 2) Insect Infestation – grasshoppers/locusts,” under the mandate of the DDR.

The bill posits that nearly 74 percent of the population and 80 percent of the country’s land area have been flagged as vulnerable to natural disasters, hence the need for comprehensive disaster-focused legislation.

Aside from departmental powers, the bill wants local government units (LGUs) to set aside at least five percent of their respective annual budgets to establish a local disaster resilience fund.

It also seeks to impose legal penalties on the withholding or disrupting the distribution of relief goods, and the selling or misuse of relief goods intended for victims of disasters.

Ealrier, HB 5989, similarly attempting to establish a DDR, was filed in the 18th Congress and authored by Romualdez couple. However, while it was approved on third and final reading, it fell short of enactment after it failed to prosper in the Senate.

Meanwhile, Senator Christopher “Bong” Go filed a similar measure this 19th Congress last July 5.

Read more here: Bong Go renews push for Department of Disaster Resilience bill