Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte (Facebook)
 

Aware that his bill is gaining traction among his colleagues, Davao City 1st district Rep. Paolo Duterte has renewed his call for the passage of the measure that provides free and streamlined freight services in the transportation of relief goods to disaster-stricken areas. 

Duterte said the approval of this measure, as outlined in House Bill (HB) No.4809, will ensure that the country is able to adopt a streamlined relief delivery system ”that is “economical, reliable, speedy and secured". 

With the Philippines sitting on both the typhoon belt and the Pacific’s earthquake and volcano Ring of Fire, the Philippines is vulnerable to natural disasters--something that is exacerbated by the devastating effects of climate change, Duterte said.  

“The Philippines being an archipelago means that we have to rely on freight companies and other logistics carriers to collect and  deliver relief goods at the soonest possible time to calamity-hit areas," he said in justifying HB No.4809, which was filed last year. 

"Providing free freight services to deliver these goods will contribute to setting up a mechanism that would ensure that the government can quickly respond to the needs of disaster-hit communities,” Duterte said.  

Duterte, whose nickname is Pulong, urged his colleagues to approve the measure following the magnitude 6.8 earthquake that shook parts of Southern Mindanao on Nov. 17.  

Just before the earthquake, Deputy Speaker Las Piñas City lone district Rep. Camille Villar filed a very similar bill in HB No. 9345, or the proposed Free Transportation of Relief Goods Act,  

Also last month, heavy rains triggered severe flooding in parts of Eastern Visayas, displacing over 35,000 people.  

The respective provincial governments of Northern Samar and Eastern Samar have separately declared a state of calamity as a result of the massive flooding caused by the shear line (an area where cold and warm air meet) and low-pressure area in the country’s eastern portion.   

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https://mb.com.ph/2023/11/18/villar-bill-waives-freight-service-fees-for-disaster-relief-ops



Duterte filed HB No.4809 with Benguet lone district Rep. Eric Yap and ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Edvic Yap. The measure remains pending in the  House Committee on Disaster Resilience. 
 
Under the bill, the Logistics Cluster of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in coordination with the Philippine Postal Corp. freight companies and other logistics firms, are mandated to provide free freight services to duly registered relief organizations transporting relief goods and donated items to areas declared to be in a state of calamity by the President or the local government units (LGUs).  

In areas not accessible to freight services, the measure states that relief goods shall be sent or delivered to the nearest LGU and shall be consigned to the concerned local chief executive.  

The Law and Order Cluster of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) shall be responsible under the bill for providing security and traffic management assistance to facilitate the speedy movement of people, goods, and equipment in calamity-stricken areas.  

Under the bill, the  OCD and the Department of Transportation (DOTr), through the Civil Aeronautics Board CAB), Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA), and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) are tasked to implement the provisions of the measure and monitor the compliance of freight service companies.