Palatino called on the government to make a serious examination of environment laws, policies and programs to address the root causes of disasters.
According to Palatino, the absence of a proper disaster battle plan of the national government to mitigate disasters renders the billions of pesos for the calamity fund questionable.
"The utilization of such funds should not remain limited to monitoring and reactive response but geared towards pre-disaster activities and infrastructure such as typhoon drills, pre-positioned relief goods, a proactive warning system, and a nationwide emergency response system that is based on a clear disaster-risk reduction and climate adoption plan," Palatino said.
Palatino said the government should create and install a clear and rational disaster plan that puts premium on disaster preparedness and disaster risk reduction in the wake of the recent 'Sendong' tragedy that killed more than 1,000 people and left some P1 billion worth of damages to infrastructure and livelihood.
"There is also a need to strengthen the country's institutional capacity for disaster risk reduction and management and promote the resilience of local communities to disasters including climate change impacts," Palatino said.
In pushing for the battle plan, Palatino said "it appears that the national government's policy when it comes to disasters focuses merely on the band-aid relief and relocation policies as evidenced by President Aquino's veto of disaster preparedness in the P5-billion Calamity Fund in the 2011 General Appropriations Act."
"The veto pertaining to the disaster preparedness in the 2011 Calamity fund may have weakened pre-disaster efforts that should have reduced risks and raised resilience against typhoons and disasters," Palatino said.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, (NDRRMC), a total of 1,257 people were killed due to the flash flood brought about by typhoon Sendong, while 4,658 others were injured and 98 missing as of January 4 this year.
Typhoon Sendong has affected 114,228 families or 724,729 people in 789 villages in 13 provinces. Of these, 80,647 families or 429,045 people are currently served inside and outside the evacuation centers. The estimated damage to property stood at P1,384,592,708, including P1,097,411,000 in infrastructure and P287,151,708 in agriculture. Furthermore, at least 13,369 houses were totally destroyed while 35,130 were damaged. <congress.gov.ph>
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