Duterte urges Congress: Pass bill creating disaster management department 

President Rodrigo Duterte delivers his third State of the Nation Address before a joint session of Congress on Monday, July 23, 2018. (Photo from an RTVM video)

Update

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday urged Congress to pass a bill creating the Department of Disaster Management.

“To help safeguard the present and the future generations, we have to earnestly undertake initiatives to reduce our vulnerabilities to natural hazards, and bolster our resilience to the impact of natural disasters and climate change,” Duterte said in his third State of the Nation Address (Sona) at the House Of Representatives in Quezon City.

In his Sona 2017, Duterte first mentioned about his desire for the creation of such a department.

“As I had stated last year, we must learn from the experiences from the Supertyphoon Yolanda, and other mega disasters, and from global best practices,” he said.

“We need a truly empowered department characterized by a unity of command, science-based approach and full-time focus on natural hazards and disasters, and the wherewithal to take charge of the disaster risk reduction; preparedness and response; with better recovery and faster rehabilitation,” he added.

The President said the “Cabinet, has approved for immediate endorsement to Congress the passage of a law creating the “Department of Disaster Management.”

“I fervently ask Congress to pass this bill with urgency to heighten safety of Filipinos,” he said.

As of now, several bills seeking the creation of a department that would replace the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council are pending in Congress. /atm