Former Speaker and Taguig-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano has renewed his call for the establishment of an emergency response department or the proposed Department of Disaster Resilience, citing the need to invest in disaster prevention and rehabilitation programs.
“The reality is that we need a department that works 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year to see how to make us more resilient and how to give relief and rehabilitation,” he said.
Cayetano made the statement during a visit to Sta. Rosa City and San Pedro City, Laguna, on Tuesday to distribute relief goods to more than 1,200 families affected by typhoon “Ulysses”. He also handed over relief goods to 30 families affected by a recent fire in Sta. Rosa.
Speaking to local officials, Cayetano said while local governments and national government agencies, including the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, may have developed systematic mechanisms for the implementation of their respective post-disaster programs, the whole government itself was not as quick and aggressive in the process of “building back better” after a devastating disaster.
“We saw during typhoon “Yolanda” how long it took the government to come in, to transport medicines, generators and everything else,” he said.
He also cited the case of Laguna, Marikina, Isabela and Cagayan where many areas were flooded during the onslaught of typhoon “Ulysses” on Nov. 11 and 12.
“It’s like what happened in Laguna where so many areas got flooded and we have places where 300 families cannot go back to their homes because the floodwaters are still high. We also saw the gravity of the situation in Marikina, Isabela and Cagayan but the government does not have a long-term plan to address it,” Cayetano said.
Meanwhile, Cayetano said he believes the President will veto projects that do not have the right priorities.
“If they do not place the right priorities, I believe the President will veto it. If they place pork ahead of the priorities, I believe they will be vetoed,” Cayetano said in an interview with reporters at the sidelines of the event.
Cayetano also said he believes that in the long run, the creation of a dedicated agency that will manage disaster prevention, response and rehabilitation efforts is vital in addressing the weakness in coordination and collaboration of the existing disaster councilset-up.
The proposed Department of Disaster Resilience bill seeks to establish a clear chain of command in times of major disasters. The DDR would be a focused and specialized single government agency that functions not only after the occurrence of disasters but works year-round to ensure that effective mechanisms for disaster risk reduction are in place even before a disaster occurs. With Roy Tomandao