TABACO CITY, Albay – Sen. Bong Go and Albay Rep. Joey Salceda have renewed their call for the creation of a Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) as Mayon Volcano continues to exhibit unrest.
Go, during a visit to evacuation centers here and the town of Malilipot, this province, on Thursday, June 22, pushed the creation of the DDR to resolve issues and problems that arise during disasters.
“Sa patuloy na pag-alburuto ng Mount Mayon, alam ninyo ang Pilipinas ay nasa Pacific Ring of Fire at dahil sa lumalalang climate change, napapanahon na po na magkaroon tayo ng isang Department of Disaster Resilience (As the country is in the Pacific Ring of Fire, it is time to create the Department of Disaster Resilience due to the Mayon unrest and worsening climate change)," he said.
Go said that during time of disasters, there should be a Cabinet-level official who will coordinate local government units
(LGUs), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), and other response agencies from preparation to rehabilitation.
"Merong isang Cabinet Secretary-level na pupunta kaagad dito. Meron silang regional office, makikipag-coordinate sa LGUs, makikipag-coordinate kaagad sa DSWD, makikipag-coordinate kaagad sa DPWH, makikipag-coordinate kaagad sa AFP, sa Coast Guard para bago dumating ang bagyo, bago pumutok ang Mayon, mailikas na kaagad (There should be a Cabinet-level official who would come to disaster areas. They should have a regional office, coordinate with LGUs, DSWD, DPWH, AFP, Coast Guard so that before a tropical cyclone strikes, before Mayon erupts, people would be evacuated)," he added.
Salceda backed Go's renewed call for the creation of the DDR.
“It’s time for the creation of a national disaster management agency that will boost the limited capabilities of local governments and coordinate among the many mandates of different agencies,” Salceda said.
“While the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act specifies LGUs to be ‘first responders’ to disasters, LGUs do not have the capacity to call upon the resources of the national government for pre-disaster, disaster proper, and post-disaster activities,” Salceda said.
Salceda and Go said that the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council is not an implementing agency and cannot carry out long-term disaster management programs.
“That limitation hurts places with permanent dangers, such as Albay, where Mayon will always be a source of risk,” Salceda added.
Go said the DDR would fast-track recovery following a calamity and not bound by limitations.
"Pag alis ng bagyo, pag-putok ng bulkan rehabilitation kaagad. Hindi po task force. ‘Yung task force, bagong administrasyon, bagong tao na naman po. Pero nandiyan ‘yung departamento tuloy-tuloy po ‘yan. Pangalawa, ‘yung sa opisina, Undersecretary lang po. Di niya mapapatawag lahat ng mga agencies (If a department is there, relief operations continue, not unlike a task force which has a new head when there is a new administration. An Undersecretary leading a task force has limited powers and cannot call on other agencies)," Go said.
Salceda, principal author of the DDR Act, said the department “could instead be a smaller agency attached to the Office of the President.”
“It doesn’t matter what you call it, or whether it’s Cabinet-level although it is proportional to the intense geological and rising climate risks of the Philippines. What’s important is mandate and access to the highest level of decision-making.”
“I agree with Sen. Go, my fellow principal author, and others in Congress that we need the agency now," Salceda said.
Salceda proposed key mandates for the DDR.
“As the disaster preparedness, response, and early recovery arm of the Office of the President, the office should be the primary implementor of presidential directives on disaster risk reduction, response, and management. Crucially, it can be an implementing agency for P/A/Ps," Salceda said.
“It should also have the power to direct, control, coordinate, supervise, and integrate national disaster response and early recovery efforts within the national government, and supervise and coordinate the efforts of local governments to the extent allowed by the President’s supervisory powers over local government units. The President may also delegate to, or exercise through the office, any presidential power with respect to pre-disaster, disaster response, and early recovery efforts,” Salceda added.
Salceda said that President Marcos has issued Executive Order 24 which constitutes the disaster response and crisis management task force. But there is a provision in the EO for the creation of a “calibrated or graduated national disaster mobilization system,” similar to the DEFCON (defense readiness condition) warning and mobilization system, in that it activates certain units automatically and prepares them for mobilization, rather than waiting for a call up from the disaster agency.
“The creation of a disaster management agency will help turn that mobilization system into muscle memory for government units. That’s what matters for readiness – that disaster risk reduction and management becomes muscle memory for our institutions.”
Salceda hopes that Marcos will identify the creation of the agency, regardless of whether it will be a department or a mere office, as a priority in his second State-of-the-Nation Address in July.