Senator Christopher Lawrence ‘Bong’ Go is now calling his colleagues in the Senate to hasten the passage of the bill creating the Department of Disaster Resilience in the country.
Go made his appeal in an interview on Friday in Davao City after his visit to fire victims in Bankerohan, saying this is now an urgent matter for the Philippines.
“Sana po ay bilisan na natin ito. Nanawagan na po sa aking mga kapwa Senador na huwag na nating hintayin pa na magkaroon pa ng mga lindol, pagputok ng bulkan, bagyo (I hope we will fast track this. I am now calling other senators not to wait for another earthquake, volcanic eruption and typhoons before we will act),” he said.
He said the bill is still under discussion with the committee on national defense and security chaired by Sen. Panfilo Lacson.
Go said it is now time for a separate department that will have a cabinet position for a proactive response in times of disaster.
He added that if the head of the proposed department has a cabinet position, the other secretaries will also respect him since they have the same position.
“Kung bibigyan lang po natin ng manager lang tapos ang position hindi pang-cabinet level, hindi rerespituhin (If we just appoint a manager that has no cabinet position, that person will not be respected),” he said.
Go said if this will be formed, the secretary of this department could immediately act on the situation by coordinating with the different departments and offices for monitoring and actions.
The head of this department will also be the one to coordinate with the concerned local government units hit by a certain disaster.
The senator said he will push this in the senate because this is also the priority of President Rodrigo Duterte during his State of the Nation Address last year.
