Robredo fears proposed disaster resilience dept. will just be another layer of bureaucracy

As far as Vice President Leni Robredo is concerned, the proposed creation of the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) should be studied first to ensure that it will not just duplicate the functions of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

“Meron nang NDRRMC under the Office of Civil Defense. It (proposed DDR) is worth studying, pero kailangan i-assess muna ano ba ang kulang sa ginagawa ng NDRRMC kasi baka nagke-create lang tayo ng another level of bureaucracy,” Rorbedo said in an ANC interview on Monday.

A pending measure in Congress designates the DDR as the primary government agency responsible for "leading, organizing, and managing 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."

The NDRRMC, on the other hand, is mandated to develop a national disaster risk reduction and management framework that provides for a comprehensive, all-hazards, multi-sectoral, inter-agency and community-based approach to disaster risk reduction and management.

“Itong existing [NDRRMC], ano ba ang kakulangan nito? Kung may kulang, baka kaya namang i-address ng legislation or other means, or i-dissolve na ito at gumawa  na bago,” Robredo said.

Increasing the number of agencies, Robredo said, will not necessarily improve the situation if policies are not harmonized.

“Ang dami-dami ng agencies na working in solos when they should be interacting with each other,” she said.

Typhoon Ulysses left at least 67 dead, 21 injured and 13 missing so far. It also displaced 428,657 families or over 1.7 million individuals.

Weeks before Ulysses, the country was also devastated by Typhoon Quinta and Super Typhoon Rolly. —KBK, GMA News