Loren wants confiscated wangwangs as early warning devices

Senator Loren Legarda on Thursday suggested that disaster-prone areas use the wangwangs (sirens and blinkers) earlier confiscated by the Philippine National Police (PNP) as early warning devices. Legarda said she has written PNP chief Dir. Gen. Raul Bacalzo to ask him to turn over all sirens, bells, horns, whistles, and similar gadgets they have confiscated to disaster-prone areas so that the same may be used as early warning devices. "An effective warning and communication device is that which we can use and access anytime. Sana lahat ng mga wangwang ay ibigay sa (I hope that they give the sirens to) high-risk areas," she said during the weekly forum at the Senate. She said that Bacalzo has yet to get back to her because he is currently out of the country. She likewise said that she does not know how many sirens were confiscated by the PNP. "I would imagine marami yun (that there are a lot)," he said. Authorities seized most of the wangwangs after President Benigno Aquino III, in his inaugural speech in June last year, said they were symbols of inequality. Aquino rejects using such equipment even in his own convoy. He ordered a nationwide crackdown of sirens based on Presidential Decree 96, the law prohibiting the use of illegal sirens and blinkers. Populated coastal areas Legarda said that if it turns out that there is a limited number of sirens that can be given out, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRMMC) and Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) can determine which areas need them the most. Legarda suggested, however, that the government can focus on highly-urbanized, highly-populated and coastal areas. "I hope that we are one in the effort to protect our people from natural hazards and maintain peace and order in the country," she said. On Wednesday, the Senate committees on climate change and environment and natural resources conducted its first hearing on the country's disaster preparedness. She said that they plan to conduct another hearing next week before Congress goes on break. She said that among those who might be invited to the hearing are homeowners and representatives malls and the Manila Electric Company. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMA News