Palace: No plan to declare national state of calamity

MANILA, Philippines - The government is not considering imposing a national state of calamity despite the successive typhoons and massive flooding that hit the country, Malacañang said yesterday.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin was expected to submit such a recommendation to the President, who is slated to visit Tarlac, Bulacan and Pampanga today to check on the victims of massive flooding.

“Even without the declaration of (state of) calamity, we are pursuing our efforts at providing assistance and relief to those affected communities in Bulacan, Pampanga, and Tarlac. In Ifugao and Isabela, we’re waiting because there’s an (upcoming) tropical depression we want to be sure that once that is abated, we can pursue the assistance in Ifugao and in Isabela,” Lacierda said in a press briefing.

He said there was a recommendation from Gazmin for a state of national calamity, but clarified later that it was only for affected areas.

Under the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act of 2010 or Republic Act No. 10121, Lacierda said there were some benefits in the declaration of a national state of calamity, especially for local governments.

“They can enact a supplemental budget for supplies. There are several measures that can be taken with respect (to) when a state of national calamity is declared. But, again, we still have to see whether there is such a need, given the present conditions, given the budget that we have, given the funds that we still have, that we have to address the aftermath of the two storms. So that’s something that has to be studied,” Lacierda said.

He added that even without the national state of calamity, the President tasked Cabinet officials to come up with a rehabilitation plan for the affected areas.

The agencies involved are the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and the Department of Energy (DOE).

The declaration of a state of calamity would make mandatory the immediate undertaking of remedial measures by the member-agencies concerned.

Lacierda said the assessment and computation of the damage caused by the typhoons and the flooding were still being done by the various departments.

Local governments can declare a state of calamity so they can make use of their calamity funds in providing assistance to those affected by disaster and doing rehabilitation work.

Under RA 10121, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) can recommend to the President the declaration of a cluster of barangays, municipalities, cities, provinces, and regions under a state of calamity, and the lifting thereof, based on the criteria set by the NDRRMC.

The President’s declaration may warrant international humanitarian assistance as deemed necessary.

The declaration and lifting of the state of calamity may also be issued by the local council upon the recommendation of the local DRRMC, based on the results of the damage assessment and needs analysis.

Palace: P-Noy was on top of the situation

Lacierda also hit critics who called the President “hydrophobic,” accusing him of not being on top of the situation when government agencies had been working round-the-clock to assist the victims.

“The President would like to see for himself the effects of the typhoon, both on infrastructure and also the affected communities. He will be able to meet some local officials and also local communities,” he said, explaining Aquino’s visit to the ravaged provinces.

Lacierda said the President decided not to visit the victims of typhoons and flooding so not to divert attention from the much-needed search and rescue operations.

“There has been criticism why the President did not show up at the height of the typhoon. Do you know how much government resources or the local government resources are going to be diverted if the President comes? Instead of focusing on the affected communities, the tendency of the local government is to focus (on the President). So at the height of the whole situation, it is important that government was moving, and the entire machinery was moving,” he said.

Lacierda said now that the floods had subsided, it would be time for the President to visit affected communities.

“This is a different President, this is not somebody who would like just to go there. He has reasons why he had called on the officials to work, to move and don’t have to wait for the President to be visible just for the entire government, bureaucracy to be moving,” he said.

The Palace official said they are not justifying why the President is not there, especially because that is how he works, and that “the people must get used to a President who would manage the situation without necessarily being visible.”

Relief assistance pouring

Meanwhile, the DSWD continues to provide relief assistance to families displaced by the two typhoons.

As of yesterday, the DSWD has provided some P24.8-million worth of relief assistance to local government units in Regions 1, 2, 3, 4A, 5, National Capital Region and Caraga affected by Pedring and P4.5 million to provinces affected by Quiel.

DSWD Secretary Corazon Soliman said a total of P16.74 million in relief goods were transported to Regions 1, 2, 3, 4A, 5, National Capital Region and Caraga from the DSWD-National Resource Operations Center (DSWD-NROC) located in Pasay City.

Soliman said the DSWD has prepositioned some P38.62 million composed of P16.49 million standby funds and P22.12 million ready for distribution to LGUs affected by Quiel.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) also rendered relief and rescue operations in the flooded Bulacan towns of Calumpit and Hagonoy.

MMDA assistant general manager for operations Emerson Carlos said the agency’s relief operations is in line with its “MMDA Kahit Saan” program, which involves the agency in conducting relief and rescue operations outside of Metro Manila.

Sen. Bong Revilla Jr. also reached out to victims of the typhoons through his Kaagapay sa Araw ng Pangagailangan (KAP) relief project.

Revilla personally distributed packs of rice and grocery items to typhoon-affected residents at the Del Pan Sports Complex in Manila, Barangay Tangos National High School and Barangay Daang Hari in Navotas City and in Barangay Dampalit in Malabon.

The senator, meantime, urged the DPWH to make sure that new, reconstructed and repaired infrastructure are built with high standard materials that can withstand the impact of climate change. He said the construction of climate change-proof infrastructure provides long-term benefits to the public.

More problems

Still reeling from the effects of the typhoon, residents of Hagonoy are now complaining about uncollected garbage dumped on the roadside or in creeks and rivers.

On the other hand, residents of Tuguegarao and Isabela blamed the situation in evacuation centers – ranging from neglected rooms, unsecured perimeters, waterless and dirty toilets – as among the reasons why they refused to heed the local government officials’ calls to leave their homes at the height of the typhoon.

In Ilagan, Isabela, residents scampered to their relatives located on higher ground or just camped in the streets with their possessions until the floodwaters subsided.

Evacuees said they would rather die in their homes rather than starve in evacuation centers and be exposed to criminal elements since there is no security.

However, the problem lies not only in the evacuation centers.

During a meeting with local Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, officials of the Department of Education complained that evacuees who were accommodated by their school destroyed some of the classroom fixtures.

Officials accused the evacuees of destroying classroom chairs, which the evacuees used for firewood.

Paid leaves for Red Cross volunteers

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV is pushing for the passage of a bill that would allow paid leaves for employees who would work as volunteers of the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC)) during disasters.

“In response to the increasing number of disasters in recent years and to the rising costs brought about by these calamities, it is timely and favorable to have legislation authorizing a paid leave for employees who volunteer for the PNRC disaster operations,” Trillanes said.

He said the bill grants public and private employees, who are also disaster service volunteers, a leave from work with pay in any twelve-month period to participate in specialized disaster relief services for the PNRC.

Under his proposal, Trillanes said an employee of an agency who is a certified disaster service volunteer may be granted leave from work with pay, for up to an aggregate of 15 days, consecutively or non-consecutively, in one year.

This will allow the volunteer to participate in “specialized disaster relief services for the PNRC” in connection with a disaster upon the request of the PNRC for the person’s services.

However, the government shall not be liable for workers’ compensation claims arising from accident or injury while an employee is on assignment as a certified disaster service volunteer for the PNRC. – Helen Flores, Christina Mendez, Mike Frialde, Charlie Lagasca, Ric Sapnu, Cesar Ramirez, Raymund Catindig, Dino Balabo