DILG wants broader powers under new name, Department of Homeland Security and Local Government

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has proposed that it be reorganized and renamed as the Department of Homeland Security and Local Government (DHSLG).

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Monday (Sept 9) said this will “lump” together government agencies involved in internal security, counter terrorism and border security into one department “for ease of coordination as well as to have one single effort for peace and order, public safety, and against terrorism.”

“All other bureaus and agencies with peace and order and public safety functions will be lumped to one department and this is actually being practiced by United States, Britain, and Australia and other countries that have experience on terrorism,” Año said at the Senate hearing on the DILG’s 2020 budget.

The DILG chief said the DHSLG was different from the proposed Anti-Terrorism Council that a proposed amendment to the Human Security Act of 2007 seeks to create.

Año said the council would be just a policy-making body while the DHSLG will be the “operating arm.”

In case of a terror attack, the DHSLG would help ease coordination among agencies.

One possible case where quick coordination is key would be when a terrorist is arriving in the Philippines and would enter through the country’s borders, the Coast Guard and Customs would be involved. The Coast Guard and Customs bureau are not under the DILG.

If the terrorist would pass through an airport, the Bureau of Immigration, which is under the Department of Justice, would be involved, said Año.

“Before you can gather all these agencies, the terrorist might have already conducted bombing and fled,” Año added.

The reorganized DILG, he said, could also handle cases of smuggling, human trafficking and others.

The DILG, he said, had already prepared a draft paper on the proposal which would be finalized in three weeks, Año said.

For 2020, the DILG has a proposed budget of P236.2 billion. The Senate committee on finance, chaired by Sen. Sonny Angara, has endorsed DILG budget for plenary deliberations./TSB