The House of Representatives’ Committee on Reorganization on Wednesday passed the bill creating the Department of Disaster Resilience. The panel, chaired by Batangas Rep. Mario Vittorio Mariño, approved the bill that carries ‘joint operational supervision’ clause over four agencies vital to DDR, namely Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology, Pagasa, Phivolcs, Mines and Geosciences Bureau of the Environment department and Bureau of Fire Protection in lieu of attaching them.
Marked as an urgent bill by President Rodrigo Duterte himself, this was the second time the Lower House has passed the DDR proposal after it was overran by the 2018 national elections in the 17th Congress. Public clamor for the measure ensued following a series of earthquake devastations in Mindanao, according to the bill’s principal author, Albay Rep. Joey Salceda.
Salceda said the DDR is envisioned to be the primary government agency that is “responsible, accountable, and liable for leading, managing, and organizing national efforts to prevent and reduce disaster risks; prepare for and respond to disasters; and recover, rehabilitate, and build forward better after the destruction.”
He said the DDR will be a full-blown department headed by a Secretary, supported by undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and directors with an initial budget of P10 billion.
The proposal initially required taking under DDR’s wings, from their mother departments, the PHIVOLCS and the PAGASA, the Geo-Hazard Assessment and Engineering Geology Section of the MGB, and the BFP, said Salceda.
But the House-approved version has settled for a new provision that preferred the “joint supervision” of these vital government bureaus, which the DDR needed for unity of command during disasters.
He said that Section 94 of the proposal, on Inter-Departmental Relations, now provides that the “DDR shall exercise joint supervision with: 1) the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) over PAGASA and PHIVOLCS; 2) The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), over Geo-Hazard Assessment and Engineering Geology Section of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), and; 3) the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) over the BFP.
The provision also requires “that the DDR and these departments shall establish systems and protocols for sustained sharing of knowledge, data, information technology, facilities and other resources critical to DRR at all times; that the DDR shall provide DRR training, upgrading of equipment and other logistical requirement… that the said agencies will be under the full supervision and direct control of the DDR in anticipation of, during, and as necessary in the determination of the Secretary, in aftermath of emergencies and disasters”.
It also provides “that Pagasa, Phivolcs and MGB Geohazards unit shall second dedicated staff to the DDR based on the requirement of DDR”.
But DDR will still have the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) as its core organization to which will be integrated the Climate Change Commission Office, the Health Emergency Management Bureau of the Department of Health (DOH), the Disaster Response Assistance and the Disaster Response Management Bureau of Department of Social Welfare and Development.
The bill provides that the DDR will lead in the “continuous development of strategic, holistic and systematic approaches to disaster management, including prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery and rehabilitation, and anticipatory adaptation strategies, measures, techniques and options.”
The new department will also promote accelerated capacity building by local government units (LGUs) with relevant national agencies and other stakeholders for the implementation of disaster and climate change plans, programs, projects and activities. It will also be tasked to formulate “comprehensive guidelines on the initiation, entry, facilitation, transit and regulation of international relief goods and personnel, as well as eligibility guidelines on how to legally assist international players, as well as provide sanctions for prohibited acts by public officials and private persons or institutions,” Salceda added.
The DDR will retain the OCD National Council with an expanded membership as the policy advisory board of the Department. It also creates a Multi-Stakeholders’ Convergence Unit to help align disaster resilience efforts of the private sector, CSOs, academe, and other stakeholders with those of the DDR by assisting, coordinating, or providing them services that strengthen public-private cooperation and coordination for disaster resilience.
Salceda said the DDR will also have a distinct National Disaster Resilience Fund scheme that allows fund inputs from both national and local government bodies. Under its new fund scheme, only 20 percent of resources can be used for quick response or stand-by fund, while the remaining 80% is for climate change adaptation, disaster risk and vulnerability reduction and mitigation, disaster risk transfer, disaster preparedness, recovery, rehabilitation and anticipatory adaptation.
The DDR will create a Disaster Resilience Support Fund (DRSF) that will be dedicated exclusively for the use of 3rd to 6th class provinces and towns in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating their programs, projects, and activities for climate change adaptation, disaster risk prevention and mitigation, disaster risk transfer, and disaster preparedness.
Based on the 2019 national expenditure program, Salceda said the budget of government agencies absorbed by DDR would amount to P31 billion. Together with the NDRRMF budget of P20 billion, the DRR would have a funding base of P50.1 billion. It is estimated that aside from the existing budgets, the DDR would require an initial P10 billion based on the new mandates. OCD would require P1 billion for new offices, especially field offices in the regions, excluding capital outlay.
As this developed, lawmakers welcomed the House committee on government reorganization’s approval of the proposed Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) tasked to create a primary agency responsible for leading the national effort before, during and after disasters.
Tingog party-list Rep. Yedda Marie Kittilstvedt Romualdez, the chairperson of the House committee on the welfare of children, and House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez, was elated over the bill’s approval at the committee level and expressed hope that Congress will soon enact the measure.
“A new Department of Disaster Resilience will effectively improve the institutional capacity of the government for disaster risk reduction and management, reduce the vulnerabilities surrounding the affected local population as well as build the resilience of local communities to both natural disasters and climate change,” the Romualdez couple, principal authors of House Bill (HB) 1151 to create DDR.
“Guaranteeing disaster resiliency through closer coordination and stronger management synchronization at all levels of the country’s disaster risk reduction and management system cannot be delayed any further,” they added.
Deputy Speaker and Camarines Sur Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte, another principal author, said the DDR “shall oversee and coordinate the preparation, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of disaster and climate resilience plans, programs, projects and activities.”
Villafuerte said the DDR is also envisioned to “provide leadership in the continuous development of strategic and systematic approaches to disaster prevention, preparedness, response, recovery and rehabilitation, anticipatory adaption strategies, measures, techniques and options.”
Deputy Speaker Raneo Abu of Batangas joined his fellow legislators’ support for the bill’s enactment.
Abu underscored the need for a coherent government response to disasters under a new agency that would be called the DDR, adding that the country has been visited by an average of 20 tropical cyclones every year which produce floods, landslides and storm surges.
“We have to pass the DDR with dispatch to effectively respond with the disasters without delays,” said Abu.