MANILA — The National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA)/Caritas Philippines urged lawmakers to speed up the creation of a disaster management department.
The social action arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)’s remarks came after floods caused by heavy rains due to the enhanced southwest monsoon battered Metro Manila and nearby provinces over the weekend.
Fr. Edwin Gariguez, NASSA/Caritas Philippines executive secretary, noted that it is the right time for the country to have an agency that will be in charge on how to effectively and instantly respond to calamities.
“It is very urgent that we have a single government agency in-charge of disaster preparedness, mitigation and response to be able to provide consistent training, craft better policies and act on pressing DRR (disaster risk reduction) concerns,” he said in a statement Monday.
With this, the Catholic priest cited the flooding in the National Capital Region for them to be more conscious in finding innovative solutions to solid waste management in urban settings.
“This also puts us in urgent position to campaign with the government and our communities for proper law enforcement, sustained cooperation and better appreciation of continuing DRR and climate change initiatives,” he said.
“We have already carved our way to a more responsive and integrated DRR programming as showcased in the various emergency and development programs NASSA/Caritas Philippines and our dioceses have been implementing. We just need to make these efforts more sustainable and spread out across the country,” Gariguez added.
Thousands of people in Metro Manila were affected by flooding due to monsoon rains in the past several days.
On the other hand, Fr. Rex Paul Arjona, Diocesan Social Action Director of Legazpi said that it is important for groups who are engaged emergency response to be always ready and fast in responding to crisis.
“It is imperative for the social action centers to be able respond appropriately and fast during disasters. The on-going DRR institutional capacity building initiatives we are having have been very helpful in ensuring we are levelling up our preparedness and response capacities, as manifested during the previous disasters like Marawi crisis and Mayon eruption,” he added.
In his third State of the Nation Address, President Rodrigo Duterte urged Congress to pass a bill creating the Department of Disaster Management.
The House of Representatives is discussing the proposal to transform the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) into a separate department.
With the proposal, the OCD will have the sole authority to mobilize all government assets to respond to natural and man-made calamities.
Under the present setup, the OCD is under the supervision of the Department of National Defense. (Ferdinand Patinio/PNA)
