House panel OKs DDR bill

The House Committee on Appropriations yesterday approved a bill creating the Department of Disaster Resilience.

The House panel, chaired by Davao City Rep. Isidro Ungab, approved the funding provisions of the unnumbered substitute bill creating the DDR.

“Item No. 1 is very important and the call of the times, considering the eruption of Taal Volcano and aside from that, we have been visited by so many typhoons and earthquakes,” he said in his opening speech during the panel initial deliberation on the DDR bill.

Under the bill, the new department is tasked “to lead, organize, and manage the national effort to reduce disaster risk, prepare for, and respond to disasters, recover and rehabilitate, and build forward better after the occurrence of disasters.”

Iloilo Rep. Lorenz Defensor, one of the principal authors of the bill, moved for the approval of the DDR bill, which is a priority legislative measure of President Duterte.

Defensor presented the substitute bill before the Ungab panel and sought its immediate approval.

“The urgency to create a focal agency to be at the helm of the country’s disaster preparedness and management is imperative. We can no longer ignore the devastation caused by these disasters, especially on the impact on agriculture, economy, as well as as the lives of Filipinos. With our collective efforts, we can mitigate the consequences of these disasters and we can start with a cohesive government agencies specifically intended for disaster preparedness and reduction,” Defensor said.

He said the current fiscal year’s unexpended and unobligated appropriations of all agencies absorbed, transferred, and attached to the new department shall fund the initial implementation of the proposed act. (Charissa L. Atienza)

http://tempo.com.ph/2020/01/22/house-panel-oks-ddr-bill/