Solon wants president to head disaster mgmt body

BAYBAY CITY, Philippines  - Representative Jose Carlos Cari (5th district, Leyte) said he and some congressmen in Eastern Visayas have been pushing for some amendments to the National Risk Reduction Law of 2010.

Cari said that during a legislative workshop in Korea, sponsored by the United Nations International Strategy on Risk Reduction, they discovered that under the law, it was the Secretary of Defense who heads the National Disaster and Risk Reduction Council.

He said this should not be, and the man on top must be the president. "The president should always be on top because the council will not only treat risk but also response," he said adding that they recommended also the inclusion of officials of other government agencies as members of the council.

Cari said there is now a shift in the mindset on how calamity funds are used. Previously, he noted, the calamity funds were only used to respond to needs that arise after a calamity strikes.

"But due to the clamor from local governments to be allowed to use it for preparedness, this is now included in the new law," he said.

He said there was a certain limit or cap on how much can be used for preparedness activities because it was also important to prepare funds for the aftermath in a calamity, especially in a typhoon-prone country like ours. (FREEMAN)