Poe renews call for review of disaster risk reduction law after Leyte quake

Senator Grace Poe on Wednesday is again calling for the review of the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act (PDRRMA) to ensure that the country is “safer and better prepared” against the fatal effects of natural disasters and other calamities.

Poe made the call after the magnitude-6.5 earthquake that struck Leyte last week, and the magnitude-5.8 aftershock that followed last Monday. At least two people are confirmed dead while more than 70 suffered injuries.

“Seven years after the implementation of the law, are we safer and better prepared?... Before next time comes, we have to protect the country and our people,” Poe said in a statement.

The PDRRMA, which took effect in 2010, created the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. It mandates the congressional oversight committee to conduct a sunset review within five years after its effectivity, or as the need arises.

In August 2016, Poe filed a Senate resolution seeking a review of the law, as well as the creation of a separate, full-time, permanent Cabinet-level disaster resilience and emergency management agency.

In her resolution, Poe said that the NDRRMC remains an ad hoc council and operates mainly under the structure of its predecessor, the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

As a consequence, active operations occur in disaster and post-disaster operations, but are lacking during the pre-disaster phase, which is vital as it includes capacity-building of personnel and completion of adaptability

“The independence of the proposed agency is a necessity to enable us to resolve problems that have accumulated over the years and the country’s recent catastrophes,” Poe pointed out.

“Climate change is a reality and is upon us. Given the frequency of these extreme weather situations the Philippines has experienced, for us to just sit here and think that this is not going to happen again would be shortsightedness,” she said. — MDM/KVD, GMA News