On the eve of the 10th anniversary of the devastating Tropical Storm “Ondoy” Thursday (Sept. 26), environmental groups reminded all cities and municipalities of the need to build disaster-resilient communities in the face of more extreme weather conditions brought about by climate change.
“As we recall the wrath of Ondoy, we urge all city and municipal governments to assess their compliance to the provisions of two vital post-Ondoy laws—Republic Acts 9729 and 1012—to foster climate adaptation and disaster resilience, especially in our poor and vulnerable communities,” said Noli Abinales, founder of Buklod Tao and former president of the EcoWaste Coalition.
RA 9729, or the Climate Change Act of 2009, directs local government units to put together and regularly update their Local Climate Change Action Plans to reflect changing social, economic, and environmental conditions and emerging issues.
RA 10121, or the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, requires Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plans (LDRRMPs) to be drawn up, reviewed and tested.
“Let the tragic memories of Ondoy and other extreme weather disturbances remind us of the need to faithfully carry out the provisions of RA 9729 and RA 10121,” Abinales said.
Recalling the massive garbage crisis in the aftermath of Ondoy, Abinales also emphasized the need to fully enforce RA 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act, to alleviate the impact of natural disasters.
Tropical Storm “Ondoy” swept across Metro Manila and parts of Central Luzon on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009, bringing a month’s worth of rain in just 12 hours and leaving 710 dead in its wake.
A joint panel in the House of Representatives, meanwhile, has consolidated several proposals to create a Department of Disaster Resiliency.
Among the bills that were consolidated were House Bill 4 of Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano and Deputy Speaker and Davao City Rep. Paolo Duterte; and House Bill 1151 authored by House Majority Leader and Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez and Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez.
The two Romualdezes stressed the need for Congress to enact the bill, saying the DDR would guarantee a unity of command, a science-based approach and a full-time focus on natural hazards and disasters.
“The Philippines is one of the countries often visited by strong typhoons. Around 19 tropical storms enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility in a year and of these, usually six or nine make landfall. Natural disasters of increasing magnitude and frequency, such as typhoon Haiyan, have continued to affect our country, which is now the second most vulnerable in the world to disasters and climate change,” they said in HB 1151.
Nearly 74 percent of the population and 80 percent of the land area are identified as vulnerable to disasters, with the capital of Manila considered at “extreme risk,” they said.
“This ‘new normal’ requires a more focused and in-depth attention in the way we understand, prepare and respond to natural disasters,” they said.
“Notwithstanding all the disaster preparation and coordination plans, there were still significant losses of life, injury and damage to property when Typhoon Yolanda, considered as the world’s strongest typhoon ever recorded, struck Philippine territory. Despite the government’s efforts and preparations thousands of people perished,” they added.
HB 4 proposes to establish the Emergency Response Department to take over the policy-making, coordination, integration, supervision, monitoring and evaluation functions of the present ad hoc inter-agency council.
In the bill’s explanatory note, Cayetano and Duterte described ERD as one equipped with bureaus specifically tasked to deal with concerns related to the pillars of disaster risk reduction and management, namely, disaster prevention and mitigation, disaster preparedness, and humanitarian and disaster response.
READ: PAGASA warns of ‘Ondoy’-type rain despite El Niño