Pangilinan seeks creation of department to take charge of disaster risk reduction
MANILA, Philippines—Senator Francis Pangilinan has filed a bill seeking to establish the Department of Disaster and Emergency Management with a calamity fund of at least P20 billion.
In filing Senate Bill 39, Pangilinan noted that since 1990, the Philippines has sustained 565 natural disasters that left almost 70,000 dead and an estimated $23 billion in damages.
Among the deadliest and costliest were the super-typhoon Yolanda of 2013, the Luzon earthquake of 1990, and the Pinatubo eruption of 1991, he pointed out.
“More than half of the country’s total land area is exposed to multiple hazards and 74% of the population is vulnerable to their impact. And with the climate crisis, we should expect that number to go higher,” Pangilinan said in a statement Tuesday.
Under the proposed measure, a calamity fund of P20 billion or at least 1 percent of the estimated government revenue or whichever is higher will be established along with the creation of a department that will integrate disaster risk reduction and management and climate change adaptation.
Pangilinan filed the bill in the wake of a deadly quake that hit Batanes on July 27, the onslaught of Typhoon Hanna and the capsizing of three motorized passenger boats in the Visayas.
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“But while we have a National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), composed of several interacting agencies sharing the responsibility for disaster risk reduction and management and overseeing the national system, no one is overall in charge,” Pangilinan said.
“We want disaster-prone Philippines to have a disaster-buster,” he said.
Aside from taking over the responsibilities of the NDRRMC, the new department shall also assume the powers and functions of the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD).
Among its mandates are:
-Review the National Building Code and Fire Code
-Develop, update, and maintain a national geographic information system
-Develop national, regional, and local disaster protocols and contingency plans
-Develop and implement community-based and scientific hazard assessment and mapping
-Draft a manual of operations for volunteers
-Manage donations
-Identify, establish, and maintain evacuation centers /muf
