DAVAO CITY: With Mindanao and the rest of the country being battered by disasters, Senator Christopher Lawrence Go on Thursday reiterated the “urgent” need for the establishment of the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) agency.

In an interview here, Go said the DDR would assist the government in disaster preparation, coordination, and immediate assistance, particularly in times of calamity where loss of life, injury, and property damage are anticipated.

Go was in this city as a special guest at the International Childhood Cancer Day and World Health Organization Global Initiative for Childhood Cancer’s 5th Philippine anniversary held at the SMX Convention Center.

‘There should be a Cabinet secretary that will focus on the area hit by a calamity. He or she will coordinate with the Department of Social Welfare and Development for the prepositioning of goods and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for evacuation,’ he said at the sidelines of the event.

Go noted that the country remains highly vulnerable
to multiple hazards being geographically located within the typhoon belt and the “Ring of Fire’ where earthquakes, flooding, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, droughts, and landslides pose serious risks.

‘Since we are in the Pacific Ring of Fire, disasters keep coming back. One factor also is climate change,’ Go added.

With proper coordination between the LGUs and agencies, the lawmaker said aid, rehabilitation, and other disaster interventions will be delivered faster.

He vowed to push for the proposed bill that remains pending at the committee level, deeming it necessary for the country.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Wednesday ordered all military camp commanders to take the lead in water conservation amid the existing El Niño phenomenon.

Secretary Teodoro’s order was in line with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive for government intervention, DND spokesperson Arsenio Andolong said in a statement.

The DND chief issued the water conservation order to the military during the second meeting of the Task Force El Niño held at the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City on Monday.

In the meeting, the DND chief emphasized the need for everybody to support and practice daily the government’s water conservation policy.

“Secretary Teodoro emphasized the need to repair facilities such as leaking pipes to prevent additional water wastage. He also added that all military personnel and their dependents living inside military camps ‘must do their part in the whole-of-government approach to mitigate the El Niño effects’,” An
dolong said.

The DND chief said the directive to military camp commanders was issued in compliance with Marcos’ Executive Order (EO) 53 which directs the government to streamline, reactivate, and reconstitute the old El Niño task forces under EO No. 16 (s. 2001) and Memorandum Order No. 38 (s. 2019) signed on Jan. 19, 2024.

Marcos’ executive order directs the task force to develop a comprehensive disaster preparedness and rehabilitation plan for El Niño and La Niña to provide ‘systematic, holistic, and results-driven interventions’ to help the public cope and minimize their devastating effects.

The Chief Executive designated Teodoro as the task force chairperson, while Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum was designated as co-chairperson.

The President also appointed the following officials as task force members: Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources Maria Antonia Yulo Loyzaga, Secretary of Agriculture Francis Tiu Laurel Jr., Secretary of Health Teodoro J. Herbosa, and Secretary of Nat
ional Economic and Development Authority Arsenio Balisacan.

As this developed, the OCD, in cooperation with other government agencies, announced that it is continuously implementing interventions to strengthen the disaster preparedness of the country.

Among the priorities are ensuring infrastructure resilience and the availability of adequate disaster response resources nationwide.

OCD administrator, Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno has directed the regional offices of OCD to ensure the availability of an updated list of critical facilities alongside the inspection report of the integrity of the structures in coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and other concerned agencies.

The memorandum order issued by Nepomuceno to OCD regional directors cited the desired outcome no. 3 of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan (NDRRMP) 2020-2030 under the Prevention and Mitigation pillar, which states that there is a need for an “increased structural integrity of housin
g, building, and critical infrastructure.’

The OCD chief also instructed the regional directors to submit reports of the available rescue assets but not limited to rescue vehicles like rubber boats, heavy rescue equipment, water filtration machines, and information and communication equipment, among others.

‘We asked our OCD regional directors to coordinate with relevant agencies regarding the list and integrity of critical facilities as well as to have an inventory of all disaster response assets. This is part of our continuous readiness assessment,’ Nepomuceno said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

DAVAO CITY: The death toll of the recent massive landslide in Barangay Masara, Maco town in Davao de Oro province has reached 90, an official of the Management of the Dead and Missing (MDM) announced Thursday.

In a press briefing, Lea Añora, MDM cluster head, reported that 37 people are still missing and that 39 death certificates have been issued so far.

Of the 90 fatalities, 14 unidentified bodies were temporarily buried at the Maco public cemetery.

‘The 90 retrieved include complete bodies and body parts,’ Añora said.

The missing individuals, she said, are recorded in police blotters after their families informed the authorities.

Añora also requested families searching for family members to check the local government advisories regarding the process to identify the retrieved bodies.

‘Our actions taken are continuous like the postmortem, blotters, and the collection of the retrieved belongings of the victims,’ she said.

Officials launched the retrieval operations on Feb. 14, one week after the landsl
ide occurred.

Meanwhile, the Davao City Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) 911 team announced that it would stay for three more days to continue assisting in the retrieval operations in the landslide-hit area.

Since Feb. 9, City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office head Alfredo Baloran said their rescue technicians, search and rescue equipment, and two dogs have been deployed to the area.

The USAR team brought with them search and rescue equipment that included apparatus to detect signs of life and tools to locate people buried in the landslide.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: Senator Raffy Tulfo has filed a bill seeking for stiffer penalties, including a fine of up to PHP1 million, for motor vehicle drivers found under the influence of alcohol.

Tulfo said that despite the passage of Republic Act (RA) 10586 or the Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Act of 2013, drunk driving has been increasingly rampant throughout the years.

Under Senate Bill (SB) 2546 he filed on Tuesday, Tulfo seeks to increase the penalty ranging from PHP500,000 to PHP1 million if the violation resulted in homicide.

Present penalty under RA 10586 ranges from PHP300,000 to PHP500,000.

Tulfo’s SB 2546 provides that driver’s license shall also be confiscated and suspended for a period of 24 months.

He said the Land Transportation Office’s (LTO) Law Enforcement Service-Anti-Drunk and Drugged Driving Enforcement Unit responded to 402 road crash incidents from January to August 2022, wherein 353 of those drivers involved in these incidents tested positive for alcohol intoxication.

He also cited report of th
e PNP Highway Patrol Group that the number of road accidents caused by drunk drivers rose from 59 incidents or at least 90 percent increase in November of 2022 compared to the 31 incidents recorded in October of the same year.

“There is an urgent need to pass legislation that calls for stricter penalties on driving under the influence. No one should ever experience the pain and suffering felt by the Palupit family, and all the other families victimized by one person’s poor decisions,” he said.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has granted the release of almost PHP2.5 billion to the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for the implementation of the Free Public Internet Access Program (FPIAP).

In a statement on Thursday, the DBM said Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman approved the issuance of a Special Allotment Release Order (SARO) amounting to almost PHP2.5 billion on Feb. 5.

‘The disbursement encompasses the implementation of locally-funded projects that include the Free Public Internet Access Program,’ the DBM said.

‘From the budget, over PHP2.4 billion will be earmarked for free internet WiFi connectivity in public places. The remaining PHP50 million, on the other hand, goes to connectivity concerns for State Universities and Colleges (SUC),’ it added.

The FPIAP aims to provide zero-cost internet access in public spaces nationwide.

The public areas covered under the program include convergence points such as national and government offices, pub
lic basic education institutions, SUCs, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) institutions, public hospitals, medical care facilities, plazas and transport terminals.

The DBM said Pangandaman also approved the release of the corresponding Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) for the first quarter amounting to PHP356.2 million for the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) of the DICT-Office of the Secretary (OSEC).

It said the funds are chargeable against the Free Public Internet Access Fund-Special Accounts in the General Fund under the fiscal year 2024 Automatic Appropriations.

Pangandaman said the release of the funding is crucial in improving connectivity in the country, considering that ‘the internet is central to our emerging new age – the digital era.’

‘It is the backbone of our modern world. It connects us and makes everything more convenient, powering education, economy, health care, public safety, and even government services,’ she said.

‘President Ferdinand R. Marcos
Jr.’s administration strives to make network connectivity more available for everyone, especially for our public servants and students. Sa Bagong Pilipinas (Under the New Philippines), we are united as Filipino people both physically and online,’ Pangandaman added.

Source: Philippines News Agency

MANILA: The Canadian government is donating CAD350,000 or approximately PHP14.5 million in humanitarian aid to support the victims of recent floods and landslides that hit several areas in Mindanao.

The Canadian Embassy in Manila said the aid would be sourced from the Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund.

‘Canada is allocating C$350,000 (approx. PHP 14.5 million) to support the response to recent flooding in Mindanao through its Canadian Humanitarian Assistance Fund with Humanitarian Coalition,’ it said in an announcement dated Feb. 14.

‘This will help provide emergency water, sanitation, hygiene services as well as the distribution of multipurpose cash and non-food items to affected communities,’ it added.

The northeast monsoon or “amihan” and the trough of a low pressure area has recently triggered massive floods and landslides in parts of Mindanao, affecting more than 455,000 families and killing 22 persons.

Based on the Feb. 15 data of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, at
least 11 were injured while two missing persons have so far been reported.

Source: Philippines News Agency