Senatorial candidate Harry Roque (File photo)
MANILA – UniTeam senatorial candidate Harry Roque wants to create a department that will immediately help disaster-stricken Filipinos.
Roque said such a specialized agency, to be called the Department of Disaster Resilience, would handle the overall responsibility of those affected by natural disasters and calamities.
“Para sa mga nasunugan, relevant din diyan ‘yung Department of Disaster Resilience kasi kinakailangan ng isang specialized agency ang nakapagbibigay agad ng tulong matapos ang aberya, gaya po ng sunog, gaya rin po ng mga bagyo, pagputok ng bulkan at ng mga lindol (For fire victims, the Department of Disaster Resilience is also relevant because it needs a specialized agency that can provide assistance immediately after a disaster, such as fires, typhoons, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes),” Roque said when asked about his plans for evacuees who lost their homes due to fire in a recent campaign sortie.
He said the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), composed of different department secretaries, is not enough to handle huge tasks in responding to severe calamities.
Roque quoted President Rodrigo Roa Duterte as saying that there should only be one person in charge -- the secretary of the Department of Disaster Resilience.
The department, he said, would ensure that climate change in the country would not worsen as it would implement regulations to protect the environment.
A report of the National Integrated Climate Change Database and Information Exchange System said the impacts of climate change in the Philippines are immense, including annual losses in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Climate change also has adversely affected rainfall patterns and distribution, droughts, threats to biodiversity and food security, sea-level rise, public health risks, and endangerment of vulnerable groups such as women and indigenous people. (PR)
