Agencies ready to act

CEBU, Philippines - Sixth district Rep. Gabriel Luis R. Quisumbing said yesterday the Navy, police, Coastguard, the Department of Health, and the Department of Social Welfare and Development have been alerted and are standing by for relief operations in Mandaue City.

Quisumbing said the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center and Eversley in Mandaue City are ready for potential dengue and leptospirosis (an infectious disease occurring in human beings and domestic animals and affecting the kidneys and liver, caused by spiral-shaped bacteria spirochetes of the genus Leptospira) cases.

This developed as Quisumbing calls on the national government and its concerned agencies to meet and discuss how "The Climate Change Act" could effectively be implemented.

In light of unpredictable weather, the recent spate of rains has triggered heavy floods in the different areas of the country especially in Mandaue City.

He said the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council should be ready to support urgent disaster risk reduction and management measures, in anticipation of disasters related to and aggravated by climate change.

"We have entered the season of climate-induced disasters and that the Climate Change Commission needs to coordinate with appropriate agencies not only with respect to disaster risk reduction and management plans but also for purposes of identifying international as well as domestic sources of funds to finance disaster risk reduction and management initiatives particularly on the local level," Quisumbing said.

Earlier, Quisumbing filed House Resolution 563 asking the House Committee on National Defense to conduct an inquiry, in aid of legislation, of the implementation of Republic Act No. 9729, entitled "The Climate Change Act of 2009", with the end in view of strengthening the provisions of the law to enable the government to effectively address the disaster risk reduction and management problems aggravated by climate change with a particular focus on the need to have a predictable, united and continuous financing for climate change related disaster risk reduction and management initiatives. (FREEMAN)