House OKs bill creating Department of Disaster Resilience

The House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to establish the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR).

With a vote of 181 in the affirmative, five in the negative and two abstentions, the chamber approved House Bill 8165, which provides that the DDR is the national government agency principally responsible for disaster preparedness, prevention, mitigation, response, recovery and rehabilitation.

Aside from this, the measure also provides that the DDR will oversee and coordinate the preparation implementation, monitoring, evaluation of disaster and climate resilience plans, programs, and activities.

The bill also seeks to increase the capacity of local government units to implement disaster risk reduction and management and climate change action plans, programs, projects and activities.

Under the measure, the DDR will be composed of a secretary appointed by the President and five undersecretaries --- four of them responsible for resilience, policy and governance, operations, administration and finance, respectively, while one will be designated as senior undersecretary.

The department will also be composed of 10 assistant secretaries, 11 service directors, divisions, units and offices, The National Climate and Disaster Resilience, Research, Education, and Training Institute, regional and other offices, bureaus, seconded personnel from relevant agencies, and grievance desks in every region.

The present National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council that exercises coordination, integration, supervision, monitoring, and evaluation functions, will be replaced by the Department of Disaster Resilience Council.

The same council will likewise be the only policy-making and advisory body on disaster risk and vulnerability reduction and management and climate change adaptation.

The DDR may also receive donations and grants from any person, government institution, corporation, international organization, and other similar entities, as well the power to recommend the procurement of developmental assistance for disaster risk and vulnerability reduction and management and climate change adaptation.

The approval of the bill came after President Rodrigo Duterte stressed during his third State of the Nation Address the need to undertake initiatives to reduce the country's vulnerabilities to natural hazards and bolster resilience to the impact of natural disasters and climate change. — RSJ, GMA News