To further streamline government’s disaster response, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. is inclined to transfer the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) from the Department of National Defense-Office of Civil Defense (DND-OCD) to the Office of the President (OP).
In an interview during the 9th commemoration ceremony of Supertyphoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan) in Tacloban City, Leyte, on Tuesday, the President said he is considering the measure to empower NDRRMC to respond to the increasing number of extreme weather incidents caused by climate change.
“There has been a suggestion that has been going around for many years now that we will put the disaster response team, the national response team, under the Office of the President,” Marcos said.
“So that’s what we are planning to do in the near future,” he added.
Marcos’s sister, Sen. Imelda “Imee” R. Marcos, had earlier proposed for the transfer as an alternative to pending bills, which will transform the NDRRMC to the Department on Disaster Resilience (DDR).
The lawmaker expressed her reservation over the creation of the new department since it will entail more operational cost to the government.
The bills creating the DDR are still pending in Congress.
The NDRRMC coordinates government agencies activities during calamities.
Its operations remain limited since it relies on its member agencies for funds.
The President said this will be addressed once the NDRRMC operates directly under the OP allowing it to better conduct its ground operations such as delivering relief aid, constructing infrastructures, coordinating with local government units (LGU) and restoring power and communication in calamity-hit areas.
“We are continuing to refine the procedures, to refine the processes, the organization, so that we will do even better than we have so far,” the President said.
House support
The leadership of the House of Representatives on Tuesday strongly backed the statement of the President transferring NDRRMC to OP.
Speaker Martin Romualdez said the proposed transfer gives the President a direct hand in managing government responses to natural calamities and in mitigating the impact of climate change-related issues and problems.
“It simplifies the flow of responsibility and directives to the more than 30 departments, agencies and organizations sitting in the council,” Romualdez said.
He said the President’s statement was announced on the day Yolanda made landfall in Eastern Visayas nine years ago. Yolanda was one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded, leaving more than 6,000 people dead, hundreds, perhaps thousands more missing, tens of thousands homeless and jobless, and countless communities flattened.
The Speaker also noted that climate change-related issues and problems like extreme weather conditions are worsening.
“Like many nations, we have no choice but to prepare for these eventualities. Our situation is even peculiar because we are visited by an average of 20 tropical storms every year. We have to streamline our disaster responses and the management of risks to natural calamities,” Romualdez said.
He said the country “has to become climate change resilient.”
Congress created the NDRRMC under Republic Act (RA) No. 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010.
The council is chaired by the secretary of the DND, with the secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government as vice chairperson for disaster preparedness, the secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as vice chairperson for disaster response, the secretary of the Department of Science and Technology as vice chairperson for disaster prevention and mitigation, and the director general of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) as vice chairperson for disaster rehabilitation and recovery.
Council members include the secretaries of health, environment and natural resources, agriculture, education, energy, finance, trade and industry, transportation, budget and management, public works and highways, foreign affairs, justice, labor and employment, and tourism.
Also sitting in the NDRRMC is the presidential adviser on the peace process, chairman of the Commission on Higher Education, chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, chief of the Philippine National Police, press secretary, commissioner of the National Anti-Poverty Commission, chairperson of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women, head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, executive director of the Climate Change Commission, the presidents of the Government Service Insurance System, Social Security System, PhilHealth, League of Provinces of the Philippines, League of Municipalities of the Philippines, Liga ng mga Barangay, four representatives from civil society groups, one representative from the private sector, and the OCD administrator.
The OP is represented in the council by the executive secretary.
‘Yolanda’
AS Filipinos commemorate the 9th year of one of the strongest typhoons ever to hit the Philippines, Romualdez said President Marcos was one of the first personalities who immediately responded after Yolanda.
The President was the guest of honor during Tuesday’s Yolanda Memorial held at the mass grave for the victims of the super typhoon in Basper Village, Tacloban City, where 2,273 bodies of victims are buried.
“And throughout the years, he [the President] has been with us, not only in remembrance of our loss but in keeping alive the lessons we learned in that tragic moment so we could ensure it won’t happen again,” he added.
For her part, Tingog Party-list Rep. Yedda Marie K. Romualdez said, “We commemorate this day by honoring the many who perished and by remembering the heroes that bravely stepped in to take action, responding to the calls for help and extended their unwavering service during the aftermath of the storm.”
A wreath laying was conducted to honor the memories of those who perished nine years ago, and to recognize the valiant efforts of rescue workers who helped rescue and rebuild areas battered by the typhoon.
Speaker Romualdez said that although they are remembering the tragedy, it also brought out the best in people.