FAST AND BETTER AID DELIVERY
A measure, that provides for the establishment of disaster food banks and stockpiles throughout the country to speed up the delivery of relief goods and other supplies during calamities, has hurdled Congress scrutiny.
With 274 affirmative votes, the House of Representatives has approved on third and final reading House Bill 8463.
The bill calls for the setting up and construction of a Disaster Food Bank and Stockpile in every province and highly urbanized city in the country, providing for their maintenance and appropriating funds for their operation.
Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez said the proposal stemmed from the fact that the country is visited every year by more than 20 typhoons, which have become stronger due to climate change.
“This reality requires us to prepare for the eventuality of storms and similar calamities displacing residents of affected areas. We have to have a faster, a more efficient and a more effective system of responding to disasters and helping our people,” he said.
He said such response can be institutionalized through the establishment of strategic food banks and stockpiles all over the country.
“A single life we can save through the timely delivery of medicine, food and critical items in the event of a calamity is worth more than the effort and money that will go into setting up these food and supply reserves,” the House leader stressed.
Under the bill, the disaster food bank and stockpile shall serve as the central repository of food, water, medicines, vaccines, antidotes, and other critical medical products, medical kits, portable power and light source, clothing, tents, and communication devices.
The shelf life of these items should at least be two years.
The establishment of the stockpile shall be an inter-agency effort, to be led by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and with the participation of the departments of public works and highways, trade and industry, agriculture, science and technology, and local government.
