MANILA – Senator Imee Marcos is recommending putting the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), currently being administered by the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) which is under the Department of National Defense (DND), directly under the Office of the President.
The presidential sister stressed on Thursday that the NDRRMC should not be a mere coordinating body, but should be given the mandate to give orders to other government agencies.
"Nire-recommend natin na magkaroon ng mas poderoso na (We are recommending to have a more powerful) NDRRMC directly under the Office of the President and not a mere coordinating body, but like a US [United States] model of FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency], able to order all the ministries, all the agencies, and all the departments to act immediately)," Marcos told reporters during her visit to Vigan City.
She is also reluctant to agree with her colleagues pushing for the creation of the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR).
"Nakikita ko yung tatay ko, inot-inot, dahan-dahan bago maging department. Kasi yung department baka maubos lang yung budget sa sahod ng limang Usecs, sangkatutak na Asecs. Gusto nating mapunta talaga dun sa trabaho (I saw my father [former President Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.], gradually before making a department. Because in a department, the budget may just be exhausted by the salaries of five Usecs [undersecretaries], a lot of Asecs [assistant secretaries]. We want to spend it all to the job)," Marcos said.
During the Senate session on Wednesday, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano urged Malacañang to certify disaster-related proposals as urgent, calling for the creation of the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR).
"Personally, I'm drafting a letter to Malacañang to ask that these bills be certified as urgent, but if the [Senate] majority leader can consider in the Rules Committee meeting if the Senate as a whole wants to ask for this bill to be certified urgent, I'd greatly appreciate that," Cayetano said during his manifestation on the Senate floor.
The senator pointed out that the frequency of natural hazards and the unique vulnerability of many parts of the country to meteorological and geological events justify the need for a single department in charge of disaster response all the more urgent.
"The present National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council is filled with very committed, dedicated people, and I've seen them work. Pero (But) Mr. President, coordinating lang sila (they are just coordinating)," Cayetano said.
"We need one department that will be accountable, one department that will be the one to do the job and we can pinpoint if any coordination is needed," he added.
Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva and Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri agreed with Cayetano and assured him that they will support the measure.
Some senators made the measure seeking to create DDR as one of their top-priority bills in the 19th Congress including Senators Christopher Lawrence Go, JV Ejercito, the Cayetano siblings, and Zubiri.
Senator Robinhood Padilla has also expressed his support for the measure. (PNA)
