Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro on Wednesday highlighted the importance of collaboration between policymakers and government agencies in disaster risk reduction.
In his address at the second plenary session of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR) 2024, Teodoro also highlighted the need for a review of existing laws to address emerging challenges and ensure that vulnerable populations receive the support they require.
“What I would like to underscore is the synergy between our policymakers and our legislators, and us in the executive branch of government who are supposed to make things happen based on the laws that they pass,” he said.
Teodoro also cited Senator Loren Legarda’s call to review the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM) Act of 2010.
“Senator Legarda has underscored that our current disaster risk reduction law was enacted 15 years ago, and it is time for a review. Because of changing circumstances, because of experiences in the field, we have been able to identify some gaps that need to be filled, some streamlining that needs to be done,” he added.
Teodoro said he is also calling for a data-driven, inclusive approach to disaster management, encouraging local resilience and community engagement, and stressing the significance of global cooperation in tackling disaster risks effectively.
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Ma. Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga meanwhile said that the Philippines would host a Loss and Damage Fund Board meeting in December.
“In December there will be a meeting here of the Loss and Damage Fund Board—we will be the hosts, and we hope that there will be certain agreements reached, [one of which is] who will be actually funding the Loss and Damage Fund Board,” Loyzaga said, quoted by GMA News.
“The whole idea of the board and the fund is actually so that there can be funding sources from other than countries specifically,” she added.
In August, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. signed Republic Act 12019 that granted legal personality and capacity to the board of the climate disaster fund.
The governing body of the fund shall have juridical personality with full legal capacity to contract, acquire, and dispose of immovable and movable property, as well as institute legal proceedings.
The government in December last year secured a seat on the board of the Loss and Damage Fund, which seeks to help poor nations cope with costly climate disasters.
