Senatorial candidate Ben Tulfo wants to promote the creation of a Department of Disaster and Emergency and place the National Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) under it.
Currently, the NDRRMC is under the Office of Civil Defense, which in turn is under the Department of National Defense.
He said the NDRRMC must be separate from the DND to have a correct and immediate response to disasters, including the immediate distribution of relief goods followed by rehabilitation of the victims.
“Typhoons and floods today are unpredictable and really devastating,” he said.
The senatorial candidate announced his legislative priority during a four-day training for disaster preparedness of the Liga ng mga Barangay Tacloban Chapter, which was attended by 728 barangay officials in the province.
“I want to take this opportunity, in God’s will and God’s grace if I win, I want to revisit the existing House Bill 8165 or the Department of Disaster Resilience Act that passed Congress in 2020, which was belittled by some senators during the previous administration,” the running senator explained.