Honasan flays flawed disaster readiness plan, bats for new one

Alarmed over the massive economic productivity losses and human dislocation due to repeated flooding in Metro Manila, Sen. Gregorio Honasan has filed a bill seeking to install a totally new and reinforced national disaster risk management plan.

"Whatever disaster readiness plan we have now is definitely flawed and grossly inadequate, judging from the ill-preparedness of local governments and communities in coping with this week's crippling downpour," Honasan said.

"We cannot allow the national capital or other parts of the country to be forever held hostage by the forces of nature," the senator said.

Honasan lamented that "the poorest of the poor, mainly informal settlers, tend bear the brunt of the suffering during flooding and other disasters."

"They are the first to be forcibly uprooted from their mostly makeshift homes. They are the ones unable to commute to work and earn a living. Worse, they are the first to reel from higher produce prices because the nearest palengke vendors had to pay extra transport costs due to the flooding," he said.

Honasan has filed Senate Bill (SB) 1444, the proposed Comprehensive Disaster Risk Management Act, "to address both pre-disaster vulnerabilities and post-emergency recovery."

Under the bill, the nation's highly centralized disaster management system, currently grounded in the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), would be effectively decentralized down to the community or barangay level.

As proposed by Honasan, existing management plans, now considered "too response focused," would be revised "toward a sustained risk-reduction or prevention model."

The senator's bill also builds up local emergency response capability, through extensive and regular disaster risk management training in every school and every barangay, plus the eventual inclusion of preparedness in the formal basic education program.

"Right now, even our police officers at the station level are not properly trained to fully respond during disasters and emergencies. This is because, to begin with, we do not have enough training capability," Honasan said.

He noted that existing disaster readiness training programs are limited and centralized .

SB 1444 also calls for aggressive, widespread and sustained "hazard mitigation measures" and the development of highly responsive interventions as well as timely safety nets during disasters.