PARTS of Visayas and Mindanao continue to reel from the aftermath of Tropical Depression “Agaton” which left 212 people dead and 132 missing, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (NDRRMC).
The storm affected more than 2.2 million people across nine regions of the country, leaving an estimated P1.3 billion in agricultural damage and another P6.9 million in damages to infrastructure.
The NDRRMC also reported that it has released more than P82 million in relief goods and other forms of assistance to those affected by “Agaton” as of April 24.
However, disaster response has to go beyond delivering relief goods after the fact; it must include rehabilitation as well.
Having a single government agency in charge of disaster response in the country will provide focus — and even ensure accountability.
But with only a handful of session days left before the 18th Congress concludes, do our legislators – especially senators – have sufficient will to pass the bill calling for the formation of the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR)? The congressmen already passed their own version in 2020 yet.
We owe it to our people to provide a coherent, reliable response system during calamities. We can’t have an ad-hoc response to disasters every time. We already know that we live near volcanoes and we have earthquakes, we’re always hit by storms. We have to have an agency in charge of this and systems in place so that we’re always ready to respond in these times.
We shouldn’t get used to just responding to disasters, we should instead be proactive. We really need a Department of Disaster Resilience to take charge of rehabilitation. We have to have an agency that will manage the economic recovery of places hard-hit by disasters.
The DDR will be the primary government agency responsible for leading, organizing, and managing the national effort to reduce disaster risk, prepare for and respond to disasters, recover and rehabilitate, and build forward better after the occurrence of disasters. It would also oversee and coordinate the preparation, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of disaster and climate resilience plans, programs, projects, and activities, among others.
Climate change has made it imperative for the government to create a single agency that would tackle disaster preparation, response, and rehabilitation. We already know that climate change is here. We should really have basic protocols to be able to deliver.
