Legislators push for urgent passage of disaster resiliency bill

Legislators are pushing for the urgent passage of a bill creating a Department of Disaster Resilience due to recent unpredictable natural disasters, including the ongoing activity at Taal Volcano.

Speaker Alan Peter S. Cayetano emphasized the need for this department to handle emergency responses to various natural calamities such as earthquakes and typhoons.

Deputy Speaker Michael Romero called for a special session to address disaster resilience bills and authorize additional funding, noting that the current National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund has PHP16 billion but may not be sufficient until December.

Romero suggested tapping into local government calamity funds and USD500 million in World Bank disaster resilience funds.