Imee Marcos: Disaster aid needs new office

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos’ call for the creation of a government agency devoted to disaster mitigation appeared to be getting a positive response from the House of Representatives.

In a statement, Marcos said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council served merely as a “coordinating body hobbled by lack of budget support.”

“Disasters are a fact of life and we need more than a coordinating body,” Marcos said.

As if to act on Marcos’ and President Rodrigo Duterte’s call, the House committees on government reorganization and defense approved a bill creating a Department of Disaster Resilience.

Aside from Marcos, President Duterte, in his State of the Nation Address on July 23, asked Congress to create a disaster mitigation agency. —Jerome Aning