“The Marcos Administration can easily raise enough funds needed for such a permanent department by deactivating other agencies no longer needed”
PRESIDENT Ferdinand Marcos Jr. must now realize the urgent need of creating a Department of Disaster Resilience with all the frequency of typhoons creating floods and resulting in the death of many people.
I may sound like a broken record in pushing for a DDR, but I think President BBM must be convinced of the need for a DDR.
The only senator who is pushing for its creation is Christopher “Bong” Go who, in his many years as a senator, realizes the urgent need for a DDR for a country like the Philippines that is calamity- and disaster-prone.
We have a country that is calamity-prone, not only for floods, as a result of a series of typhoons worsened by the monsoon rains, but also earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides and many other calamities and disasters the Philippines is prone to.
As I said, Santa Banana, I might be sounding like a broken record, but President BBM should really push for a permanent government agency like the DDR that will be in charge of rescue, relief and rehabilitation.
Yes, we have the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, an ad hoc agency devolved in every province and region.
I cannot over emphasize the need for a permanent agency like the DDR considering that so many lives have been lost because of these disasters.
More importantly, there is a need for a permanent government agency, like a DDR that will immediately take care of rescue, relief and rehabilitation nationwide.
With all the frequency of disaster and calamities hitting the country we should now realize the need for such a permanent agency with all the allocation whenever a disaster and calamity hits our country, instead of relying on temporary rescue and relief and rehabilitation locally and foreign aid.
I am not saying that we can stop all these disasters and calamities hitting the country, but at least we will have a permanent agency that has its own allocation in the budget to take care of all during and in the aftermath of calamities and disasters.
It is sad, Santa Banana, that the Senate has not prioritized the DDR which we can rely on whenever a calamity occurs, considering that a country like the Philippines is prone to disasters and calamities, instead of relying on an ad hoc body like the NDRRMC.
It should be implanted in the minds of our senators the urgent need to prioritize the approval of the creation of a DDR.
For this reason I praise Christopher “Bong” Go who seems to be all alone in the quest to push for a Department of Disaster Resilience.
In all my years living in Metro Manila, I have never seen such flooding caused by typhoons and monsoon rains as what we just had.
Again I emphasize the need for President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Senate to prioritize the need for a permanent agency like the DDR.
The Marcos Administration can easily raise enough funds needed for such a permanent department by deactivating other agencies no longer needed.
Sara Duterte’s Impeachment
While there are those who claim the decision of the Supreme Court that the impeachment case against the Vice President is unfortunate, considering that it is unconstitutional, in my own assessment, it is good for both sides.
And as commented on by a former Supreme Court justice, it is legal but unfortunate.
It will give more time for the prosecution to gather more evidence to convict Sara Duterte by the senator judges. It is also good for the defense to prepare its case.
I am neither for or against the impeachment of Sara Duterte, but as I see it, Santa Banana, it will be good for the country to take a breather from all the politics we have seen in the recent past.
As enunciated by BBM in all his SONAs, there is a need for the country to prioritize what the country needs most.
There are so many headwinds from foreign sources, thus we must now realize the need to prioritize what is good for the greater majority of the country.
