Senator Christopher Go on Tuesday reiterated his call for the creation of a Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) in the wake of the damage caused by Typhoon “Rolly.”
Noting that inter-agency coordination must be improved, Go said a full-blown department with a Cabinet secretary in charge would make the government more responsive during disasters.
He also said a DDR would provide a clear chain of command and a holistic, proactive approach to crises in a country where natural disasters are “normal occurrences.”
At present, the government’s response to natural calamities goes through the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), a coordinating body.
Under a bill he filed, a Department of Disaster Resilience would be primarily responsible for ensuring that local communities are well-adapted, resilient and safe from the impact of climate change.
Go noted that at present, the relevant agencies such as the Office of Civil Defense; Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration; and Philippine Institute of Volcanology are under different departments.
The senator also noted that there are at least six similar bills now pending in the Senate supporting the creation of the DDR. The House of Representatives passed their version on Sept. 21.
NDRRMC chief Ricardo Jalad, however, took a different view, saying the proposed DDR “cannot duplicate” the expertise of certain state agencies in disaster prevention, mitigation, response, rehabilitation and recovery.
"Can the government afford to house all those mandates in one department?" he said in an interview with ABS-CBN's Teleradyo.
“When you make a Department of Disaster Resilience there's an expectation it will hold all these responsibilities. We will struggle to capacitate a department with all these functions,” he said in Filipino.
He also said disaster resilience should be done by instead by incorporating disaster risk reduction and management in the development processes and programs.
Some senators on Monday also opposed the proposal to create the DDR, saying existing state agencies were already performing its mandate.
Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman also opposed the creation of a DDR.
“Another such department will only create an unnecessary layer in the bureaucracy and would increase expenses for personnel, MOOE, and capital outlay, which could be used for more immediate needs and requirements,” Lagman said.
The funds needed for added expenses that a new department will entail can better be used to augment the resources being used against the COVID-19 pandemic and for rescue and relief operations during calamities.
In addition, Lagman said existing government agencies like the Office of Civil Defense, the NDRRMC, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of the Interior and Local Government, and the Department of Public Works and Highways are effectively performing on disaster prevention, mitigation, management and rehabilitation, and should be allocated more funds as existing agencies without the need for creating a new department.
In most countries, he added, there are no separate departments for disaster resilience and response.
In Japan, he said, an ad hoc committee is created headed by the prime minister, as needed, in response to particular calamities. In Thailand, there is a department of disaster prevention and mitigation under the larger Ministry of Interior. In Singapore, it is the Singapore Civil Defense Force, under the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is in charge of disaster resilience.
Meanwhile, Senator Richard J. Gordon underscored the need for the government to preposition disaster response equipment and stockpile strategic supplies to facilitate disaster response.
Gordon, also chairman and CEO of the Philippine Red Cross, said having equipment and necessary supplies pre-positioned in strategically located warehouses would ensure immediate delivery of necessary response or aid.
“We are always hit by typhoons, earthquakes and volcanic eruption, etc. and we also now have the COVID pandemic,” he said.
He said the authorities can swiftly respond to disasters if they have a warehouse in every region with the equipment and a stockpile of medical supplies and relief goods.
“It is important that we should always be prepared because we cannot tell when the calamity will come,” he said.
Gordon said the Red Cross has built warehouses in strategic locations in the country where disaster response vehicles and equipment are prepositioned. Stockpiles of food and non-food relief supplies are also kept in the warehouses.