Marcos: Proposed DRRM body may need to be under OP

President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. on Thursday expressed support for the suggestion that the proposed new disaster response body be an attached agency under the Office of the President (OP) instead of a new department.

During a situation briefing in earthquake-hit Abra on Thursday, Marcos said there is a need for the government to "disabuse" itself of the idea of creating new departments, amid lawmakers' push for the creation of a Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR).

Marcos was responding to the proposal of his sister, Senator Imee Marcos, who was at the briefing, to create a government body in charge of disaster response under OP.

"May I recommend, by way of yet another Imeesolusyon, rather than a whole scale department na mauubos lang ang budget sa sahod ng limang [undersecretaries], sangkatutak na [assistant secretaries], can we start with an NDRRMC authority or administration?" Senator Marcos said.

(May I recommend, by way of yet another Imeesolusyon, rather than a whole-scale department where the budget will only go to the salaries of five undersecretaries and many assistant secretaries, can we start with an NDRRMC authority or administration?)

"We are siblings, indeed. I fully agree. I did not ever understand the concept of a full... department. I don't think we need that because you don't really have to form policy," Marcos said in response.

"It is just an implementation of a rescue mission or search and rescue mission," he added, citing the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) of the United States as a "good model."

"There are many models, but the good model I've seen is FEMA in the United States and that's only an adjunct of the Ministry of Interior or the Department of the Interior," the President said.

Save funds

Senator Marcos said the government would be able to save more funds by creating a disaster body under the OP instead of a whole department.

"In our case perhaps, just to prove the point, is simply to put it (government body) under the Office of the President so that the orders can be issued to different departments," she said.

When Marcos told her that her proposal needed to be written, Senator Marcos said she had already filed a bill on this in the Senate.

"I thought we still have to get it written because we have to disabuse ourselves of the whole idea of another whole department," Marcos then said.

Marcos had earlier said he was in favor of creating a "specialist agency" that would be in charge of disaster response.

Support from House leader

Speaker Martin Romualdez, who was likewise present at the situation briefing, vowed support for Senator Marcos' suggestion.

"Mr. President, on the part of the House, we shall support the good senator's proposal here owing to the fact that we have always been looking for best practices in FEMA or even the AFAD in Turkey are great models for best practices for these protocols," Romualdez said.

Despite his commitment, Senator Marcos said the proposals in the House of Representatives are for the creation of the DDR, to which Romualdez said the legislative department should also uphold the administration's rightsizing policy.

"Ang problema kasi sa House, department [ang proposal]. Iba talaga ang Waray thinking sa Ilocano thinking," Senator Marcos said.

(The problem with the House is that the proposal is for the creation of a department. Waray thinking is quite different from Ilocano thinking.) 

"Mr. President, we shall rightsize our legislation," Romualdez said in response.

Senator JV Ejercito, however, reiterated the need for a whole department to respond to major natural disasters. 

“Considering our geographic location, we are in the Pacific Ring of Fire, just like Japan. That’s why we are prone to earthquakes, prone to volcanic eruptions, prone to supertyphoons. Parang walang taon na lumilipas na wala tayong calamity na malaki (It seems like there is never a year that goes by without us experiencing a major calamity)," he said in an interview on Thursday.

Ejercito said it would be appropriate to establish the DDR rather than be caught off-guard if catastrophes hit the country.

"It’s better to prepare. It’s better to be equipped. Sabi nga nila (As they say), it’s better to have it and not need it than not to have it," he said. 

Although there were calls to rightsize the bureaucracy, Ejercito said the creation of DDR was necessary to save lives and prevent casualties.

"I think it’s really needed at this time, I would say. Probably the other departments [with] redundant tasks, those are subject to rightsizing. But I think disaster management would really save lives and prevent casualties. I think we cannot compromise,” he said.

He shared the sentiments of other legislators that the NDRRMC is a mere coordinating body that only responds in case there are calamities.

"More of reaction ‘yon. Pag meron lang calamity or upcoming calamity, doon lang naghahanda,” he said.

(It's more of a reaction. They only prepare if there is a calamity or an upcoming calamity.)

“But I think because of the frequency of calamities that are visiting us right now, pati yung magnitude iba na. I think it has to be a full-time and [full-] fledged department that would take care of it,” he added.

(But I think because of the frequency of calamities that are visiting us right now, the magnitude is now different. I think it has to be a full-time and full-fledged department that would take care of it.)

Ejercito is among the senators who push for the creation of the DDR following the magnitude 7 earthquake that struck the northern part of the country.

Reacting to the latest statement from the President, Senate President Juan Miguel Zubiri said the Legislative Executive Development Advisory Council must meet as soon as possible to discuss the administration's plans for establishing a body that will oversee the nation's disaster response.

During the Wednesday session, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano asked the Senate leadership to request Marcos to certify the bill creating the DDR as urgent.

In response, Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva said he wants to be part of this measure. He said the Committee on Rules will consider Cayetano's suggestion as soon as they finish their organization.

Zubiri, who manifested that he had also filed a bill creating the DDR, also expressed his full support for Cayetano's manifestation. —KBK/VBL, GMA News