DND prefers boosting disaster response over creating new agency

MANILA – Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said Thursday he prefers measures to strengthen existing disaster response and mitigation agencies instead of creating a new one.

"I would like to share this message to our congressional partners that in crafting of a way forward for the NDRRMC (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council) and the OCD (Office of Civil Defense), what we need is to strengthen our inter-agency coordinative abilities and information gathering abilities for a focused response to anything whether it be mitigation, or whether it be response," the DND chief said in a presser on the sidelines of the launch of the Philippines' hosting of the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.

Teodoro, also the chair of the NDRRMC, said this system has been successful as each department could focus on its specific role and expertise.

"We'll provide the forum and the facilities for rapid and immediate information gathering, information sharing, and coordination among different decision makers and ultimately to the President. And I think it has been a success while each department focuses on its own specific role and expertise," he added.

The defense chief also said creating a new agency will take a lot of time and need funds.

"A new entity which you capacitate as a superbody will take a lot of time to mature. And secondly, since government resources are finite. To create a new entity to answer for these specific competencies of different departments would mean taking away resources from specialized agencies in order to fund a new entity," the DND chief said.

With the Philippines regularly beset by calamities, Teodoro said the government cannot afford to have a "learning curve" because this will be "extremely steep."

"So I would like to make this appeal to our legislators and other partners, the coordinative function is the most important and the NDRRMC is your super task force for that," he added.

Teodoro also noted that for disaster risk reduction, it is their mission to tap the different expertise and functional responsibilities of the different departments in the government.

"While we coordinate, whether mitigation or resilience, in (particular) response, the OCD is basically the forum for convergence of all these agencies. In like manner, we'd like to do the same with our international partners, be it the UN (United Nations), be it other governments because experience has it even the most economically advanced countries in the world depend(ing) on (the) severity of calamities, can't do it alone," he added.

About 2,500 delegates from 62 countries are expected to attend (APMCDRR).

Environment Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga, who also chairs the APMCDRR 2024, said the country would lead other nations in pushing a collective effort on disaster risk reduction.

She said the event would foster the exchange of best practices in the response and recovery efforts in the face of natural disasters and calamities.

"The 2024 APMCDRR offers us the chance to come together, and share what we have learned. and strengthen the partnerships necessary to move forward. This is an opportunity to continue our progress, build on our successes, and reinforce our commitment to protecting our communities and ecosystems," Loyzaga said. (Marita Moaje/PNA)