President Aquino calls for review of gov’t crisis manual

President Benigno Aquino III, expressing alarm at the rising death toll in Mindanao in the wake of Tropical Storm “Sendong,” on Saturday called for a review of the government’s crisis manual on natural disasters.

He also sought a longer-term response to “correct” all disaster risks from mining and other activities that had led to the deforestation of storm-hit areas, particularly riverside settlements in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.

But the first mitigation should focus on the relocation of residents in all areas identified to be at risk from severe weather disturbances like Sendong, he said.

At Saturday’s interagency conference at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council headquarters, the President was apprised of the developments on the unfolding tragedy in the South.

Present at the conference were Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Transportation Secretary Mar Roxas and Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Jessie Dellosa.