Two more congressmen on Thursday joined the call for the immediate passage of the bill that creates the Department of Disaster Resilience.
Representatives Luis Raymund Villafuerte and Precious Hipolito-Castelo said the bill’s enactment is significant as it focuses on, apart from the creation of permanent evacuation centers, the formulation of disaster management plans particularly for the communities most vulnerable to natural calamities.
Several lawmakers led by Majority Leader Martin Romualdez and his wife, Rep. Yedda Marie of the Tingog Party-list, earlier batted for the speedy passage of the bill in light of the series of disasters, including destructive typhoons and earthquakes as well as man-made calamities.
Villafuerte, a deputy speaker, called on the Senate to act at once on its version of the House-approved consolidated DDR bill when Congress resumes session next week, as the Department of the Interior and Local Government has ordered the mandatory evacuation of residents of Lipa and Tanuan plus at least 12 municipalities in Batangas on the path of Taal Volcano’s latest fury.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology are bracing for the “big bang” or hazardous explosive eruption, base surges and volcanic tsunami that experts fret could happen “within hours or days.”
Villafuerte, an author of the House-approved consolidated DDR bill, said “Taal’s continued eruption after four decades of dormancy gives the Congress more reason to pass this measure creating a new Department that would let government best prepare for natural calamities along with other disasters induced by climate change.”
Castelo urged Malacañang to certify as urgent the House bill creating the Department of Disaster Resiliency.
Castelo, vice chairman of the House Committee on Metro Manila Development, said “our experience on the slow and uncoordinated response to the Taal Volcano eruption proved the government needs to enact the proposed law as soon as possible.”
The lawmaker said the country needs a “super body” to zero in on its requirement for disaster preparedness, response and rehabilitation.
“What we lack is a coordinating body with highly trained individuals and available budget to handle such delicate tasks,” Castelo said.