‘Disaster readiness and risk reduction has become the buzzword in schools and governments, as nations become aware that they need to make use of modern technology to counter the effects of natural and even man-made disasters to save lives.’
ALTHOUGH the proposal to create a Department of Disaster Resilience is not among the 19 priority bills President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. mentioned to legislators in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA), a magnitude 7 earthquake that struck Luzon on Wednesday jolted Malacañang into putting disaster resilience in focus.
The northern Luzon temblor was particularly devastating, especially in the province of Abra, part of the Cordillera Administrative Region and the hardest hit area, where a total of 1,729 families had to move to evacuation areas because their homes were damaged and some 51 government buildings were hit, too.
Centuries-old churches in the Ilocos region were also damaged, along with roads and bridges in Region 1. The tourist city of Baguio was shaken, too, with Kennon Road having landslides and is now closed to all motorists.
The quake served as a jolting wake-up call for Malacañang, and President Bongbong Marcos himself faced the media to brief the nation about the catastrophe that claimed the lives of four Filipinos, with more than 50 others hurt and wounded. It was also a chance for new Social Welfare Secretary Erwin Tulfo to shine and do what his office is mandated to do, and it looked like he passed with flying colors.
With President Marcos’ endorsement of the measure on disaster resilience, the number of priority bills which Congress has to act if it is really a reliable ally of the Chief Executive has become 20.
The measure proposes that the Department of Disaster Resilience “shall be the primary government agency responsible for leading, organizing, and managing the national effort to reduce disaster risk, prepare for and respond to disasters, recover and rehabilitate, and build forward better after the occurrence of disasters.”
Disaster readiness and risk reduction has become the buzzword in schools and governments, as nations become aware that they need to make use of modern technology to counter the effects of natural and even man-made disasters to save lives.
The Philippines is located in the Pacific Rim of Fire, where volcanoes abound and typhoons are normal occurrences, so the government should make all efforts at mitigating them through rigid preparedness and timely response.
