Wednesday, November 20, 2019

House committees OK creation of Department of Disaster Resilience

The House committees on government reorganization and disaster management on Wednesday approved a bill creating the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR).

The still-unnumbered bill consolidated at least 30 measures filed in the House creating the department.

In the 17th Congress, the House passed on third and final reading a similar measure in October last year. However, the bill’s counterpart version failed to hurdle the Senate.

Under the new House bill, the DRR will be the primary agency “responsible, accountable, and liable for leading, managing, and organizing national efforts to prevent and reduce disaster risks; prepare for and respond to disasters; and recover, rehabilitate and build forward better after the destruction.”

The department will also be headed by a secretary supported by undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and directors.

Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda, one of the main proponents of the bill, said that the new department would need an initial budget of P10 billion from the national budget.

The new bill also adopted a “joint operational supervision” provision over four agencies vital to DDR —which are Pagasa, Phivolcs, , the Geo-Hazard Assessment and Engineering Geology Section of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)— instead of making them attached agencies of the department.

Section 94 of the proposed measure provides that DDR shall exercise joint supervision with the following agencies:

- Department of Science and Technology (DOST) over Pagasa and Phivolcs

- Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), over MGB

-Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) over the BFP

The bill also provides that DDR will still have the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) as its core organization to which the Climate Change Commission Office, the Health Emergency Management Bureau of the Department of Health (DOH), the Disaster Response Assistance and the Disaster Response Management Bureau of the Department of Social Welfare and Development will be integrated.

Salceda said that the new department would have a distinct National Disaster Resilience Fund scheme that allows fund inputs from both national and local government units.

Under the new fund scheme, only 20% of resources can be used for quick response or stand-by fund, while the remaining 80% is for climate change adaptation, disaster risk and vulnerability reduction and mitigation, disaster risk transfer, disaster preparedness, recovery, rehabilitation and anticipatory adaptation.

The DDR will also create a Disaster Resilience Support Fund that will be allocated solely for the use of third to 6th class provinces and towns in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating their programs, projects, and activities for climate change adaptation, disaster risk prevention and mitigation, disaster risk transfer, and disaster preparedness.

After its approval at the committee level, the bill will be transmitted to the House Committee Rules so that it would be calendared for plenary deliberations.

During President Rodrigo Duterte’s 2019 State of the Nation Address, he called on Congress to fast track the creation of the DDR. #

https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1192511/house-panels-ok-creation-of-department-of-disaster-resilience

Bulacan Province update:

XENTRO MALL MALOLOS TENANTS:


  • Jolibee
  • Mang Inasal
  • Chowking
  • National Bookstore
  • Red Ribbon
  • Black Scoop
  • Bibo Shoes
  • SM Savemore


yan pa lang ang sure malaking tulong sa mga taga BulSU at LaCo ang NB na mas malapit sa kanila..

House panels OK Department of Disaster Resilience bill

By ERWIN COLCOL, GMA News

The House Committees on Government Reorganization and Disaster Management on Wednesday approved the measure seeking to create the proposed Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR).

During its joint meeting, the panel approved the substitute bill for at least 30 bills proposing the establishment of the department.

However, unlike the original versions of the proposal, the committee-approved bill adopts a "joint operation supervision" clause over agencies vital to the DDR instead of making them attached agencies of the department.

According to Albay Representative Joey Salceda, one of the main proponents of the measure, the DDR will be the primary government agency “responsible, accountable, and liable for leading, managing, and organizing national efforts to prevent and reduce disaster risks, prepare for and respond to disasters, and recover, rehabilitate, and build forward better after the destruction.”

The department will be headed by a secretary supported by undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and directors. It will have an initial budget of P10 billion.

Initial proposals said that several bodies will be taken from their mother agencies to be attached to the new department.  These are the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Service Administration (PAGASA), the Geo-Hazard Assessment and Engineering Geology Section of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP). 

However, Salceda the committee has decided to adopt a new provision on the "joint supervision" of these agencies with the DDR.

Section 94 of the measure now provides that the DDR will exercise joint supervision with the following departments:


  • Department of Science and Technology over PAGASA and PHIVOLCS
  • Department of Environment and Natural Resources over Geo-Hazard Assessment and Engineering Geology Section of the MGB, and;
  • Department of Interior and Local Government over the BFP


The Office of the Civil Defense will remain as the core organization of the DDR, under which the Climate Change Commission Office, the Health Emergency Management Bureau of the Department of Health, the Disaster Response Assistance and the Disaster Response Management Bureau of the Department of Social Welfare and Development will be integrated.

Salceda said the proposed DDR will have its own National Disaster Resilience Fund scheme which will allow fund inputs from national and local government units.

Under this scheme, only 20% of the funds can be used for quick response, while the remaining 80% is intended for climate change adaptation, disaster risk and vulnerability reduction and mitigation, disaster risk transfer, disaster preparedness, recovery, rehabilitation and anticipatory adaptation.

The proposed department will also establish a Disaster Resilience Support Fund exclusively for the use of third to sixth class provinces and towns in planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating their programs, projects, and activities for climate change adaptation, disaster risk prevention and mitigation, disaster risk transfer, and disaster preparedness.

Following its approval in the committee, the bill will be transmitted to the House Committee Rules which calendar it for deliberations in the plenary.

Apart from the DDR bill, the House is also prioritizing the approval of the measures creating the Department of Filipino Overseas and the Department of Water Resources. —LDF, GMA News

https://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/716147/house-panels-ok-department-of-disaster-resilience-bill/story/

Disaster resilience dep’t hurdles House panel

The House Committee on Reorganization on Wednesday passed a measure creating a Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR), which is a legislative priority of the Duterte administration.

Albay Rep. Joey Salceda, the principal author of the bill, said the panel acted on the measure following a series of earthquake devastations in Mindanao.

Salceda said the DDR shall be the primary government agency responsible for “leading, managing, and organizing national efforts to prevent and reduce disaster risks; prepare for and respond to disasters; and recover, rehabilitate, and build forward better after the destruction.”

Salceda noted that the panel approved a new provision that would allow the DDR to jointly supervise vital government bureaus with its mother departments--the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) and the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical Astronomical Service Administration (PAGASA), the Geo-Hazard Assessment and Engineering Geology Section of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), and the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP).

The provision also requires that the DDR and these departments shall establish systems and protocols for sustained sharing of knowledge, data, information technology, facilities and other resources critical to DRR at all times.

The DDR would still have the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) as its core organization, to which will be integrated the Climate Change Commission Office, the Health Emergency Management Bureau of the Department of Health (DOH), the Disaster Response Assistance and the Disaster Response Management Bureau of Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The DDR will lead in the “continuous development of strategic, holistic and systematic approaches to disaster management, including prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response, recovery and rehabilitation, and anticipatory adaptation strategies, measures, techniques, and options.”

The new department will also promote accelerated capacity building by local government units with relevant national agencies and other stakeholders for the implementation of disaster and climate change plans, programs, projects, and activities.

It will also be tasked to formulate “comprehensive guidelines on the entry, facilitation, and regulation of international relief goods and personnel."

A Multi-Stakeholders’ Convergence Unit shall be created to help align disaster resilience efforts of the private sector, civil society organizations, academe, and other stakeholders by assisting, coordinating, or providing them services that strengthen public-private cooperation and coordination for disaster resilience.

A National Disaster Resilience Fund scheme that allows fund inputs from both national and local government bodies shall be adopted.

Under its new fund scheme, only 20 percent of resources can be used for a quick response or stand-by fund, while the remaining 80 percent is for climate change adaptation, disaster risk and vulnerability reduction and mitigation, disaster risk transfer, disaster preparedness, recovery, rehabilitation, and anticipatory adaptation.

https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1086549

Vista Land, Mitsubishi unit team up to build condo project

Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., the real estate arm of the Villar group, said it teamed up with Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd., a leading comprehensive real estate developer in Japan, to develop a mixed-use condominium project along Taft Avenue in Manila.

Vista Land said in a statement the partnership was being formed through a 60:40 joint venture company between vertical development arm Vista Residences Inc. and MEC’s subsidiary Mitsubishi Estate Residence Co. Ltd.

“This joint venture is a testament to the increasing trust and confidence of customers and investors alike in Vista. It highlights our growing profile not just with buyers but also with existing and potential partners, both here and abroad,” Vista Land president and chief executive Manuel Paolo Villar said.

This will be the MEC Group’s first residential development project in the Philippines.

It is VRI’s fourth project in the  Taft Ave. area and is a part of the company’s rapidly growing university series―a line of vertical developments in high-density, student-oriented locations.

“This joint venture brings together two of the largest real estate firms from different parts of Asia. Our strong track record of over 40 years in residential and commercial development nationwide, together with the MEC Group’s comprehensive spectrum of businesses in diverse fields related to real estate, will create a high-rise condominium which reinforces our vision of offering homes that foster good relationships and building communities that answer the needs of Filipino families,” Vista Land chairman Manuel Villar, Jr. said.

The planned 32-story condominium offers more than 1,000 units, plus seven floors of parking spaces and a ground floor featuring various commercial establishments.

It is set to be launched in the first half of 2020, with turnover targeted in the second half of 2024.

The project would cater primarily to the expanding academic community in the Taft University Belt or “U-Belt”, home to 100,000 collegiate and post-graduate students, faculty members and administrative personnel and a total of 13 universities and colleges over a 4-kilometer stretch.

The project is also strategically located close to various schools, hospitals, commercial centers and public transportation including the Vito Cruz LRT station.

MER director and senior managing executive Yutaro Yotsuzuka said: “We are confident that this collaboration shall bring about a skillfully engineered and beautifully designed tower at the heart of the university cluster in Taft, and we hope to explore more opportunities with Vista Land to develop the rich potential of the real estate industry in Asia. We believe this joint venture is only the beginning, paving the way for a long-term and fruitful partnership.”

http://www.manilastandard.net/index.php/business/corporate/310457/vista-land-mitsubishi-unit-team-up-to-build-condo-project.html

2020 budget to be passed on time - Sotto

THE Senate is on track in its calendar for the approval of the proposed P4.1-trillion national budget for 2020, Senate President Vicente Sotto III yesterday said as the Senate resumed plenary deliberations on the General Appropriations Bill (GAB) approved and transmitted by the House of Representatives.

"It was submitted on time. We are right on track of our timetable without sacrificing important issues being raised in the different departments," Sotto said, noting that senators have been given plenty of time to bring up and clarify questionable or ambiguous provisions in the budget bill.

Sotto said plenary discussions on the budget measure, including the period of interpellation, individual amendments and committee amendments are expected to be completed by the last week of November.

Senators are eyeing the approval on second and third reading of the proposed GAB also by next week. The bicameral conference committee is expected to convene by the first week of December.

"The bicameral debates will be unpredictable. We expect healthy debates among members of the bicameral panel as they thresh out and reconcile the differences in our respective versions of the measure. We hope they will remain level-headed and open-minded during the discussions," Sotto said.

Congress is eyeing to have the proposed 2020 General Appropriations Act enacted and signed into law before lawmakers go on break for the holidays on December 20.