DEFENSE Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr yesterday aired support for a
review of the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 as he said there are gaps in the law that should be addressed.
Teodoro, chairman of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), spoke at the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction being held at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.
“Senator (Loren) Legarda has underscored that our current disaster risk reduction law was enacted 15 years ago, and it is time for a review,” Teodoro said.
Legarda, who authored the law, earlier told the conference that persons with disabilities “must be included in all stages of disaster risk management — from risk assessment to recovery.”
She also said government must ensure that “early warning systems, evacuation procedures, and recovery plans are accessible to everyone, removing barriers that prevent full participation.”
She also said women, girls, persons with disabilities, and those belonging to marginalized groups “must be at the heart of shaping the post-2030 disaster risk governance framework, ensuring their leadership in building truly resilient and inclusive systems.”
Teodoro, at the conference, said, “Because of changing circumstances, because of experiences in the field, we have been able to identify some gaps that need to be filled, some streamlining that needs to be done.” He did not specify the “gaps.”
“And this is a constant exercise that should happen in most areas of government, but it is critical that it happens in disaster risk reduction in order to optimize and to focus government efforts in all aspects of the topic,” he added Teodoro.
Teodoro said the government, through the NDRRMC, has worked very hard to establish “gender-responsive, data-driven, and inclusive approach and management system” in responding to disasters.
“This has been approached in three ways. First, we emphasize local resilience, to include capacity building for the local units for data collection, and vertical and horizontal integration between these local units and the national government for collation and analysis of data for the optimal application of resource management,” he said.
He said the government has strengthened its information gathering and analysis capability but admitted “the pace of development far outruns our capability development.”
“Therefore, in order to plug this gap, we invite civil society, private organizations, and individual supports,” said Teodoro.
Teodoro also cited the need for communities “working together within themselves and within one another.”
“And in those paradigms of communities, you will know how to take care of those who are different from you, how you respect and deal with those who are different from you, and then go up through vertical integration,” he said.
“And as a government, we horizontally integrate in order for there to be a whole ecosystem of disaster risk reduction activities and thoughts within the whole national community and the world community,” he added.
