Disaster response
THE powerful and multi-agency National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) plays a crucial role in the government’s disaster response efforts.
It is the lead agency tasked with mustering and coordinating the various government agencies and offices responding to natural and man-made disasters across the country.
In the view of many, the NDRRMC, which is under the Department of National Defense (DND), may have already perfected the art of addressing the problems during calamities.
But now, President Marcos himself wants to place the council under the Office of the President (OP) to streamline and strengthen the authorities’ disaster response efforts.
Marcos bared this in a speech in Tacloban City during the commemoration of the 9th anniversary of Super typhoon “Yolanda,” which ravaged Eastern Visayas on Nov. 8, 2013.
He described as “good” the government’s response to disasters, but there are ways when we can even make it more streamlined.
At present, the NDRRMC is headed by the DND secretary, with four other Cabinet members as vice chairmen.
They are the secretaries of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Science and Technology, and National Economic and Development Authority.
Considering the worsening of climate change, Filipinos have to take action now if we are to ensure our health, safety and welfare during emergencies, like typhoons and floods.
Let’s then hasten the transfer of the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council from the Department of National Defense to the Office of the President.
Ngayon na!
