Workers of the Department of Social Welfare and Development packing relief goods. This photo was taken in November 2020 (Photo from DSWD Facebook page)
MANILA, Philippines — House Bill (HB) No. 8463 — the proposed Disaster Food Bank and Stockpile Act — was approved on its third and final reading Wednesday, with 274 lawmakers voting for it and nobody voting against it or abstaining.
The bill would task several government agencies to create a stockpile to ensure that the supply of food and other essential goods would be adequate anywhere even during calamities.
“A Disaster Food Bank and Stockpile, hereinafter referred to as the Stockpile, shall be established as central repository and supply reserve of food, water, medicines, vaccines, antidotes, and other critical medical supplies, and other essential goods such as, portable power source, first aid kits, portable light source, clothing, tents, and communication devices in every province and highly urbanized city of the Philippines,” the bill read.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will head the inter-agency body, which will also include the following:
- Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)
- Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)
- Department of Agriculture (DA)
- Department of Science and Technology (DOST)
- Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)
Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said the bill would allow the government to prepare better for different calamities — especially since the Philippines has been vulnerable to cyclones, landslides, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
The bill aims to make it easier and faster to pre-position goods near areas that need them.
“This reality requires us to prepare for the eventuality of storms and similar calamities displacing residents of affected areas. We have to have a faster, a more efficient, and a more effective system of responding to disasters and helping our people,” Romualdez said.
“A single life we can save through the timely delivery of medicine, food, and critical items in the event of a calamity is worth more than the effort and money that will go into setting up these food and supply reserves.”
In August 2020, Sen. Lito Lapid filed a similar bill in the Senate, but it failed to progress because the entire government was focused on its COVID-19 pandemic response.