International aid policies tackled at NDRRMC meeting

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana

The procedures on donations from abroad during disasters were among the issues taken up at the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) year-end meeting on Tuesday.

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting that the policies were discussed amid abundant donations from overseas.

“We discussed some of the policies on disasters kasi maraming nagdo-donate (because many are donating),” he said.

Lorenzana said they also discussed how to control the proliferation of groups soliciting donations from abroad.

In a separate statement, the NDRRMC said the Philippine International Humanitarian Assistance guidelines include sub-clusters on financial donations, international relief workers and in-kind donations; reporting mechanism; transparency accounting, and auditing requirements.

Earthquake preparedness was also among the topics discussed during the meeting. The Philippines lies in the so-called Pacific “Ring of Fire,” which makes it prone to earthquakes and volcanic activity.

The dengue vaccine Dengvaxia was not among the issues discussed.

“It means it’s not an issue dahil hindi naman yata delikado yung mga batang nabakunahan (because the children who were vaccinated don’t seem to be in danger,” Lorenzana said.

The Duterte administration recently ordered drug manufacturer Sanofi Pasteur to stop the sale and distribution of the vaccine after the company warned last week that it could be harmful when given to persons not previously infected with dengue.

It has also suspended its program to immunize hundreds of thousands of children following the announcement of Sanofi.