Rep. Winston “Winnie” Castelo (LP, Quezon City) today urged President Benigno Aquino III to assume the post of a powerful disaster management czar to address every national calamity situation.
In a statement, Castelo also called for the inclusion of disaster management and preparedness in the elementary school curriculum, saying this is an issue that should be taught to children in their formative years.
Although the Republic Act 10121, or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, has named the defense secretary as chair of the National Disk Reduction and Management Council, the key and decisive disaster management player is the President, Castelo said.
As the take-charge guy in every calamitous situation, the disaster management czar will have to address four major areas: disaster preparedness, disaster mitigation, emergency response, and post-disaster rehabilitation of victims.
Also, according to Castelo, the time-honored spirit of bayanihan should be inculcated into the mind of schoolchildren, as they get educated on the necessity of disaster management.
RA 10121 empowers the defense secretary, as chair of the National Disaster Risk reduction and Management Council, to coordinate government agencies to act on every calamity and mandates the teaching of disaster management and preparedness to high school and college students.
Congress could look into the possibility of providing the President with additional powers to become the disaster management czar, particularly post-disaster rehabilitation of victims, which is considered crucial in disaster management.
Congress could amend RA 10121 to mandate the teaching of disaster management and preparedness to elementary school children, Castelo said, even as he noted that schoolchildren are the frequent victims of calamities.
The disaster management czar should be empowered to manage disaster risk reduction and operations during crisis situation, provide better disaster mapping nationwide, and identify all areas prone to disasters, and the adoption of disaster preparedness programs at grassroots level.
“This is the age of disasters – both natural and man-made,” Castelo said. “We have no choice but to adapt, as Mother Nature exacts its vengeance for all the abuses that have been committed by man.”
Typhoons, storms, tropical depressions, and weather disturbances visit the nation regularly, triggering huge winds, heavy rainfalls, floods, and landslides that kill and maim people, render them homeless, and destroy crops and property, Castelo said. Also, the country lies along the “belt of fire,” which means devastating volcanic eruptions, lahar flows, earthquakes, and tsunamis.
Moreover, extensive drought, mass pollution and poisoning, and epidemics, or pandemics, whether natural or man-induced, also occur regularly, Castelo said.
In some parts of Mindanao, where a mini-war has been waged for decades, disasters happen, as civilians get caught in the crossfire and its adverse effects like famine, Castelo observed.
The global warming and the melting of the polar caps create havoc on this planet, as seawater level rises and climactic changes crop out with unpredictable effects. All told, these catastrophes mean human misery, Castelo said. 30
