NATIONAL Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) officials have endorsed the inclusion of the Office of the Vice President’s Disaster Operations Center (OVP-DOC) and the Philippine Space Agency (PhilSA) as members of the council.
The recommendation was reached last Tuesday, during a meeting held by members of the NDRRM’s Technical Management Group (TMG) at Camp Aguinaldo.
The meeting was presided over by NDRRMC executive director and concurrent Office of Civil Defense administrator Raymundo Ferrer.
The NDRRMC-TMG endorsed to the NDRRMC full council, chaired by Department of National Defense officer-in-charge Jose Faustino Jr. to recommend to the Office of the President the issuance of an executive order making the OVP-DOC and PhilSA as NDRRMC members.
A number of agencies are members of the NDRRMC, including the Office of the President. The council is chaired by the DND secretary.
It has four vice chairpersons — interior secretary (for disaster preparedness), social welfare secretary (for disaster response), science and technology (for disaster prevention and mitigation), and Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority (for disaster rehabilitation and recovery).
“It can be recalled that President Marcos Jr. expressed the need to strengthen the country’s use of satellite technology to support DRRM operations,” the NDRRMC said in a statement, justifying its recommendation to include PhilSA as a member of the council.
“The OVP-DOC has also been active in providing support to disaster response operations at the ground level,” the NDRRMC added.
