Tough job

There has been so much hype in media, deserved or not, over the resignation of National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council executive director Benito Ramos. A retired Army Major general, Ramos is quitting the NDRRMC and as concurrent administrator of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) effective end of this month due to personal reasons.

Actually, the 61-year-old Ramos would later admit this is the third time that he offered to resign for the same reasons. The first time, Ramos revealed, was in 2011 when he submitted his letter of resignation to Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin as his immediate superior. In the middle of 2012, Ramos said, he renewed his request to resign effective upon acceptance.

It was only on Ramos’ third time to re-submit his letter that Gazmin finally gave in and accepted his retirement. And in all three times, Ramos cited, his letter of resignation manifested his desire to take care of his diabetes-afflicted wife, to brush aside speculations on the reasons for his decision.

From official announcements from Malacañang, President Benigno “Noy” Aquino III has not signed yet the appointment of a new NDRRMC executive director. But Gazmin has confirmed having recommended to the President Eduardo del Rosario, another retired Army Maj. Gen. like Ramos and the Defense Secretary.

The 56-year-old Del Rosario, who belongs to Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class 1980, has reportedly been given an on-the-job orientation by Ramos at his office last Monday.

Ramos cited he has been in the government service for over 38 years. This was from the time he joined the military service as a Private First Class and rose through the ranks until he retired in 2007 as head of the Special Operations Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Being very media-savvy, Ramos has earned a reputation as a workhorse and no-nonsense official. This is because Ramos has made himself very accessible especially to broadcast media, or the radio and TV newscasts that need hourly updates for public alerts on threats from weather systems and other disasters.

Since his resignation has been accepted – finally at last – I would not begrudge him whether or not he deserves such accolades showered on him by media. The guy has a wrong notion of his job description. He has acted as “spokesman” and media lapped this up. Since Ramos has made himself as the official source of information for disaster statistics, naturally media relied much on him.

It is no secret that I have been critical in the past on how Ramos discharged his duties and functions as NDRRMC executive director. This is not to mention his boo-boos and attempts of comic antics even in the middle of official discussions with the President and NDRRMC meetings aired live on radio and TV.

Republic Act 101211, or the law that was signed on May 27,2010, created the NDRRMC and specified the mandates of this new body that replaced the National Disaster Coordinating Council.

The NDRRMC, under this law, is headed by the Secretary of the Department of National Defense (DND) as chairperson, with the Secretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) as vice chairperson for disaster preparedness, the Secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) as vice chairperson for disaster response, the Secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) as vice chairperson for disaster prevention and mitigation, and the Director General of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) as vice chairperson for disaster rehabilitation and recovery.

This law specified the NDRRMC shall be composed of as many as 37 other Cabinet and government officials, representatives from local governments as well as non-government organizations and civil society groups. And lastly, the administrator of the OCD.

Under Section 6 of this law, the OCD “shall have the primary mission of administering a comprehensive national civil defense and disaster risk reduction and management program by providing leadership and the continuous development of strategic and systematic approaches as well as measures to reduce the vulnerabilities and risks to hazards and manage the consequences of disasters.” The NDRRMC shall utilize the services and facilities of the OCD as the secretariat of the NDRRMC.

Hence, the administrator of the OCD also serves as executive director of the NDRRMC and, as such, shall have the same duties and privileges of a department undersecretary. This is why Ramos became the concurrent executive director of the NDRRMC.

Section 6 of the NDRRMC Law further mandated: “All appointees shall be universally acknowledged experts in the field of disaster preparedness and management and of proven honesty and integrity.”

Section 9 of the same law spelled out 19 specific powers and functions of the OCD in order to “develop, promote, and implement a comprehensive National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan (NDRRMP) that aims to strengthen the capacity of the national government and the local government units (LGUs), together with partner stakeholders, to build the disaster resilience of communities, and to institutionalize arrangements and measures for reducing disaster risks, including projected climate risks, and enhancing disaster preparedness and response capabilities at all levels.”

If one reads through each and every power and function of the OCD under this law, it was a big job for Ramos to do it by himself. Much was left to be desired in terms of disaster preparedness by our national government agencies and especially in many of our LGUs. Ramos himself admitted this is one of his frustrations in office at the NDRRMC.

This we have seen from the most recent typhoon-induced disaster in Compostela Valley where the evacuation center was erected in a landslide-prone area. Instead of saving lives, it killed scores of people.

The opportunity to do better in reducing risks to lives and property, if not totally preventing disaster, is a tough enough job. To find the right man to capably do the job is much tougher!