Time for the New DDR Bill for the Philippines to Solve Various DRR Woes

After the passing of RA 10121, a lot of improvements happened in the Philippines in the field of disaster preparedness and response but after 10 years, the law still need some changes and improvement to make it more pro active, responsive and capable. The existing DRR law is still like more on coordinating, less effective in solving frontline problems, limited in scope , does not have its own response personnel and limited authority. The law still fail to solve salary issues for the creation of DRRM Office and its needed personnel specially in provinces or low income LGUs. It also fail to standardized the different positions needed for the DRRM Office, no mention of magna carta for DRRMO local personnel, issues on the utilization of funds re acquiring quality, tested and reliable equipment, tools and vehicles since the law requires the lowest bid but because of that low quality are being acquired. Issues on coming up with various trainings needed from management to responders skills. Issues on requiring LGUs to create a DRRMO and not appoint only and so on.

PS Cap and Lack of Created Item or Plantilya for DRR at the local level is an Organizational Woes. The common problem nationwide of DRR is building up the necessary manpower or personnel requirements to achieve an effective and Resilient LGU. The PS Cap is one among the problem. Thus, LGUs tend to assign or designate personnel with various tasks or positions and just fill up the 4 major positions written under RA 10121. But in reality, the responsibilities cited under RA10121 requires much more in order to achieve the goal of the law. Another contributing constraints under organization woes is the lack of plantilya or item under the CSC book to guide LGUs although it was mentioned under 10121 that LGUs can create such position, but this has created legal and opinion debates which limited its growth.

Lack of Opportunities for the Knowledge, Skills and Experience. If the first constraint will be solved, the next barricade is education, training, skills and experience. LDRRMOs in different LGUs varies in knowledge, skills and experience since not all opportunities of learning are available to all. And 1 pitfall to LGUs, is when after a term ends and there is a change of adminstration, usually those people are replaced. Thus, OCD and DILG and other national agencies need to retrain and repeat trainings and seminars almost every 3 years. Preventing growth or advancement. Lack of training materials or scattered or un coordinated to teach various fields needed for a LDRRMO. Forgetting what these LDRRMOs will face once they take the responsibilities. From understanding weather, environment, earthquakes, volcanoes, drought, managing various kinds of emergencies, ICS, MCI, camp management and coordination, prevention methods, various kinds of mitigations, MDM, EOC, understanding use of GIS and hazard maps, understanding the use of data analytics and technologies and even understanding SAR and Fire operations. LGUs are fast evolving due to 10121 to aim for resiliency but we lack a unified driving force to standardize and place everyone with common goals and platforms. The new DDR Bill should also put emphasis on training funding and facility.

Another concerns for this new Bill should also focus on getting the right quality of fire-rescue-medical equipment and vehicles at the right price. Procurement Woes. It is a common problem among LGUs and COA and BAC re getting the right equipment, tools, materials, vehicles and technologies. There is the issue of cost, I fully agree and support the President's view re not all cheap items or getting the lowest bid price means better for the government. The room for LGUs or even for our country to aim HIGH and follow good practices in other countries is being limited in the field of disaster preparedness and response. The issue that government can not put a brand or identify should be rethink. Ex. Systems, vehicles and specialty tools are made by different countries and makers, thus their price differs, but most of the time those items that are reliable, tested, proven, with international certifications of quality/safety and good after sales are expensive, but due to limitations, LGUs or government will need to just make technical specifications wherein low quality products can compete and when a government makes an ABC, the question is what will you follow or approve in the end? Is it the low, mid or high range? There are products and vehicles now that has the same specifications but its quality, length of service, after sales support, quality of parts and reliability has not been tested. This issue should be tackled in the new DDR Bill.

The next concern that needs to be included in the new DDR Bill is Agency Woes. Non centralized or lack of one governing agency leading or commanding the ship. It needs to discuss or put in place issues regarding INTEROPERABILITY. That provides a structure for the creation and improvement of national policies, standards, and plans to improve disaster response agencies communications capabilities in support of safety, operational, procurement and infrastructure efficiencies, and eventually increased citizen safety and security. A policy that supports the disaster response community through the development of a basic structure which will guide the creation of sustainable capabilities, uniform and consistent standards, and navigate investments in communications interoperability policies, programs, technology, equipment, training, and best practices. The majority of emergencies are essentially local in nature. The process of managing an emergency and executing the activities necessary to respond to the situation begins at the community level with emergency personnel. But in the event of a large-scale, complex emergency or event in the country, no single agency at any level of government would have the required authority and expertise to act unilaterally. A complex emergency or event is one that triggers a variety of mandates, crosses jurisdictional boundaries, and requires an approach that aligns policy and integrates efforts by national & regional OCD and LGU responder organizations. Such events may also require support from international partners. From day-to-day incidents to large-scale emergencies, emergency responders are often disadvantaged by the inability to communicate or share critical voice and data information with other jurisdictions or agencies. This inability to communicate threatens the safety and security of both emergency responders and Filipinos. Emergency response agencies, at all levels of government, must have seamless interoperable communications to manage response, establish command and coordination, maintain situational awareness and function within a common operating framework. This will lead to improved response capabilities and provide a more comprehensive approach to disaster management, which will lead to increased safety for all Filipinos. Again, we hope that the issue re interoperability, operability and continuity of operations and communications should be included in the new DDR Bill.

The Philippines has learned firsthand how crucial effective emergency communications are to response and recovery efforts. These lessons were learned during various disasters that occurred in the country  (like Typhoon Ondoy, Yolanda, Bohol Earthquake et al) that requires support from every government agencies and involvement of private organizations and international agencies. Today, it becomes more difficult and complex with the COVID-19 Pandemic already creating problems, various emergencies are also happening which proper coordination, inter operation, policy, standard and communication is very important to succeed and serve the public. Equally important are the smaller and more frequent incidents that occur every day in communities across the country, such as natural and human induced disasters or emergencies. These events often expose the lack of communications interoperability capabilities and the inability of emergency responders and government leaders to manage response activities and perform essential functions.  With the approval and creation of the new DDR Bill we hope that new issues arising due to this pandemic can now be included in the new Bill in order for the country to be ready for the next pandemic and other complex emergencies to come.

Another issue that needs to be included in the new Bill is on how private companies and institutions to follow the agency's policy on private sector joining actively to all emergency drills and guidelines in order to have a safer and ready work environment. There are still a lot private sector (companies) who does not fully participate in emergency drills and also does not create and implement the safety plans or requirements for them to operate. We hope that with this new Bill, these issues should be included on how all or everyone will participate and follow what is needed in order to have a safe working environment.

The newly proposed and approve DDR or Dept of Disaster Resiliency is a step closer but it still needs the views of our local DRRMOs who are the first line of defense. The recently approved in the House of the DDR Bill mostly focused on the National structure. We hope that in the Senate, other missing subjects or concerns can be tackled and included before the final approval of the DDR Bill. There are various templates and versions already made and we hope that all the good things in them be included and hope the effort will not be wasted. We hope that this new Bill will not be rushed. There was a version from the PMO-ERG group and I had an opportunity to meet Atty. Jimeno back then and their version was very promising and pro local government. The version made a lot of concerns for the empowerment of the local government units and we hope that part of that version be included in the new Bill.

In the end, Disaster Preparedness, whether it is in anticipation of potential weather-related incidents such as typhoons/cyclones, La Ni?a or El Ni?o, monsoon rains or earthquake, volcanic eruptions or tsunami or even terrorist incidents and not to forget pandemic REQUIRES a skill set and knowledge that a person needs to be trained for and tested in order to gain experience to handle such incidents. We hope that this new DDR Bill will bring a new hope and synergy and make a concentrated effort to combine all talents out there to ensure that our country will be safe and ready for future emergencies and disasters.