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PHlUPPllrlES TTHURSDAY 2s ApRtL 2ol9

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The bilt seeking to create the Department of Disaster and
Emergency Management is already with Congress, It should
not wait for another disaster to strike
tuotnHEl
Victor "I- qiercito ald other 2019 Senate
hopefds Fessed for the creation of the
@rffi dDba$€r Resiliency @Dt) anid
tlte !€caa sEhg of eafihquakes.
lle coufy is also atrlicted by an average
of I tnhmns a year, some of vftich
cause great losses to liYes and
trlpq*x.
Go dEw his suppot behid
the cedbn ofthe agency
'Fe really noed to scale up
tlre peparedness and resiliency of the
gorernment against natural oEcrSrox
disa$en, such as earthquakes. ='at{ C)
h is aboui time that a sepaxaie
deportrnent is qeated wirichwill focus onthese
ndral events,' he said in a radio interaiw.
Lr his tlrtd Stat€ of the Nation Addrcss
b$ A Jub 2018, Pr€sident Rodrigo Drterte
reiterated his cal br Congress t0 pa.ss a law
cr€aJing a department with more powe$
compared to the cuEent National Disader
Rbk n€duction and Management Council l0
qeed up rcsponse io natural ard nafinade
calamities.
Go said the matter yras bmwht up anew
drdng the briefing led bv Mr. Drneftr in San
Femando, Pamparga a,fter conducting an
inspettion ofthe darnage caused bythe trcmor,
I1rc fomer SAP said if he ic elected to the
Senat€, he iaould pusue effolts to p&9s a hw
oeating such a departnent.
'Ihe bill seeking to create the Deparhnent
of Drsaster ard Emeryency Management is
drcady with Congress. It should not wait
lor motllel disast€r to shike, the bil (for its
cnation) should be passed now,' he said. ' preparedness alrd resiliency of
Go has been advocating for the
€dablisiment shong sa$ adnelt€quipped
0f
eracuation centers in tlrc counhry as pafi ofhis
legislative ageida"
BiIl pends
In october last year, the House of
Representatives approved on third and
fmal reading the bill creating the DDR. A
count€rpart measure has been frled ad is
peding in the Senat€.
qiercito said he yould refile Senaie BiU
1563, wldch seeks to fleat€ ih€ department
given another terd in the S€nate.
'I will pursue it if wer re get rceleded.
I will work for us to haye a full-fledged
depaftnent in the salne namertlut I pufsued
tl€ ffeation 0f the D€pafiment of Human
S€tuements ard U$an Derelopment, drich
is nox' a law," he said,
Under qiercito's bill, a permanent,
in$bnionalize4coheshEardcontrehensive
framenork for disader peparedness,
pevention and mitigation, and
r€sponse will be implement€d by
a fiiltrtime and locus€d specializ€d
agency with its own mandate,
porers ard turdfu;
qiercito said thai in disaster
risk reduction and managernent,
disaster gevention, shall, fust
o f aI, ain tne ouhight avoidance of
"
the aA€Ne impads of hazards ard relaied
disasters.
"Since the Philippin€s is situatrd along the
'Paciflc Ring of Firc,' it h Fone to Wphoons,
volcanic eruptions ard euthquakss. I think
re ne€d to hansfolm the Naiional Disaster
Risk Redudion ard Mamgement Council inio
the Deparfinent of Disa.st€r and Energency
Managemeft to ensule ltar{oud prparadon
ard training ofour people to be educated wlnt
to do rtlen disaster erupts,' $ercito said
Preperrdness needed
He added: 'What we really need is
tr€parcdness to fr€vent c€rqalties. mininize
i4uries. We need a ful{edged depadnent
that doesn'tju$ med when a disader shilas.n
We really need to scsle up the
the government 'igtlnst n&tur&l
disasters such as earthqua,kes.
Fbnner presidential political adviser ard
lbtropolitan Manila Dwelopment Arihority
Chainnan trYancis Tolentino has said that the
gove.mment should revisit "Oplan t{etro Yakal'
to gevent casualties due to eeft,lquake.
'tbr Mdrc Manila, ihe nayors and the
med4 tale a look at 'oplan liletro Yakal,'
which vrc devised in 2016. It is $i[ relevant
gircn tl€ recent seismic adivities. Saving liles
should be the trioriry now and tomorow,'
if Tolefiino told,rhe DU U frilww.
"Oplan l,Ido Yald nuso is a contingency
, plan of the Metro Manila Disashr nisk
' R€duction ard Mamgemeni Council, yihich
and procedureit
that should be
followed in case
a 7.2 magnitude
eaffrqtuke Sil€s.
ft also enumerated
the responsibilities of
the gotenunent agencies,
:including the local
go\remment units (I6tI)
r
1.
ad ttre piiate sectors
m eafliqua,le situadons.
Mea.nwhile, reelectionist Sonrly Angara
urged LGU officials to spend their local
disaster firnds in updating the disaster plans
and risk reduction management.
IIe enphasized that it will be a "proadive
ard co$€ffedivs' aptroach in disa$€I r€spon6€.
'iGU slould not hesitate to sped their
calamity funds for disas{er preparedness :
becaus€ it is alwa's b€tter to be prepared
than hope for the best and deal with the
consequences a.fter disastd strikes,' he said.
,Equaf heaht€It
Meann'hile, Go assured the Deople of
Samar and aqiaaent lmvinc€s rocked by the
6.6 na4nitude earihquala on T\resday thal
the Duterte adminishation wil extend to
them the sane kird of assistarce erd€ded
io the victims of tlrc Lrzon eax0rsuake. He
accompanied President Dutete dudng the
Parnpanpa bdefing.
In October last yea,r, the
House approved on third and
ffnal reading the bill creating
the Department of Disaster
Resilience. A couderpart
measure haa been ffled and is
pending in the Senate.
In the case of the Luzon earthquake,
Go said the hesident visitpd the fanily of
the infia.l firr quake fatalities reported ard
proyided them with assistance before the ,
brieting in San Femado. He said the Pr€sident
was apparently satisfied with the initial
rcspons€ of both the concemed IGU ard the
national 4encies.
He said that President Durerte's main
directive t0 tlrc concemed ageneies was to
restore normalcy as soon as possible.
Go also thanked Fivate individuals and
entities lrilo have volunteered tlrcL services
and rcsoul€es in helping vidins of th€ quake
in.Pampanga"
the fomer SAP said the frong quakes that
hit Luzon ard Samar should remind everyone
not to take lor granted the earthqurke dills.
Ukwise, Go said IiI<e nany ol the qualc
victins in Panparg4 those affected by the
h€mor in Sanax ad nearby areas needing
medical assistance qan seek help ftom the
Malasakit Center in Tacloban{ity.
' A pogram of the'Drterte adminidration
based on Go's idea, the Malasakit Center
makes it easier ard faster ftr poor patients
to a{ail of medical and financial a.sistane€
ftom the govemment by bringing together
in one mom concemed agencies such as the
Depaftments oJ Ibalth ard Social llblfare and
Philippine Ch iW Sqeepstalcs
Office ard PhiItualtll
Go is proposing a law to
enable the establishment -
of Malasakit Center in
'
more Frovinces and kry
uban centeN of the j
counhy and ensurc as
nell the continuation
of the pr0gram wen
after the term
of President