AMID the recent earthquake that hit the country, Senator Francis Chiz Escudero on Tuesday, is pushing for creating a new government agency, if not a new department, to ensure the timely, efficient, and red tape-free distribution of relief and funds during disasters and calamities.

Escudero made the statement amid renewed calls from various sectors to put up a department for disaster response following the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that devastated the province of Abra, Ilocos Sur, and other parts of Northern Luzon.

“The law creating a strengthened disaster response agency should have an anti-red tape provision and must ban complex rules that impede the flow of rehabilitation funds to calamity-stricken areas,” Escudero said.

Speaking from experience as former governor of Sorsogon, Escudero lamented that fund releases during emergencies had been delayed because of the arduous process and voluminous documents that the national government required from the local government units (LGUs).

He said the public will know about it when the Senate starts its public hearing on the various proposals.

“The forthcoming hearing on the creation of a new department or agency on disaster response, relief and resilience will expose how long the process is and how long the list of documentary requirements is in securing so-called calamity funds,” Escudero said, referring to the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Fund (NDRRMF), which has an appropriation of P20 billion for this year.

The fund is primarily used to repair damaged infrastructure and pre-disaster resiliency measures against natural and man-made calamities is on top of the P6.5 billion Quick Reaction Fund (QRF) shared among and released in advance to eight first-responder agencies.

“Wala namang malaking issue sa pagpapadala ng relief goods kasi nga sa QRF kinukuha. Ang may problema ay ‘yung reconstruction, tulad ng mga nasirang pampubliko at pribadong ari-arian,” he said.

The Bicolano senator also shared that the journey of a Sangguniang Bayan resolution requesting funds to repair a destroyed irrigation canal, which releases usually takes months, if not a year.

He described the process as “harder than a salmon swimming upriver.”

“First, it must be supported by a thick folder of documents, including project design, hazard maps, the program of work, design review, financial documents, at may drone video pa, and many more,” he said.

“Minsan meron pang listahan ng beneficiaries na hinihingi. Then it will be evaluated and vetted by many agencies, including site visitation. This stage calls for another set of documents such as assessment reports,” Escudero explained.

When the proposal is sent to Manila, Escudero said, it will be coursed through the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) and reviewed by the NDRRMC Secretariat.

And if found meritorious, the Secretary of National Defense as the NDRRMC chairperson, will endorse it to the Office of the President, where it will undergo independent review before it is sent to the DBM, which, in turn, will conduct another round of due diligence assessment before it releases the funding authority documents for the project, he said.

“There is room for improvement na puwedeng pabilisin ang proseso at bawasan ang mga dokumentong hinihingi. Hindi ba dapat ang needs assessment ay dapat manggaling na sa national because understaffed local manpower should be helping the victims instead of collating paperwork needed for a request that will take months to be finally approved?” Escudero pointed out.