Cayetano readies bill creating Dept. of Emergency Response

ISABEL, LEYTE, Philippines - — Senator Alan Peter Cayetano said he filed Senate Bill 1940 creating the Department of Emergency Response, at the Cabinet level, to allow the national government a more cohesive, swift and effective reaction to disasters and other emergencies.

Cayetano, in his visit to this town Sunday, told the people there of the necessity to create a department intended for the purpose of “enhancing the effectiveness of our government’s response to calamities an other emergencies.”

The Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council, created by Republic Act 10121 for every local government unit, will be under the supervision of this new department. 

“Different agencies have their own charter or policies or objectives in every emergency. The DSWD will focus on social services, police and military on security and so on … so there must be a department to direct these agencies,” the senator told The Freeman.. 

Cayetano observed that when typhoon Yolanda and the Bohol earthquake happened in a short span of time, the response capability of the government was stretched to exhaustion level. “There is really a need to establish a department that can handle emergencies in such a large scale,” he said.

One of the provisions of the bill is to provide the department with emergency powers to call on the military and the police for quick mobilization in time of crisis, Cayetano added.  (FREEMAN)