Press Release
March 16, 2011

Transcript of press briefing by Senators Migz Zubiri and Loren Legarda after the joint Senate committee hearing on disaster preparedness

Q: What's your assessment on the presentation of govt agencies?

S/Migz: My position is slightly different from the chairman, the chair's position. I am more cautious dahil nga kasama po ako sa Red Cross, i am a trained rescue diver. I am not completely satisfied with the efforts of national government, the presentations here were fine, to make this reach the common man, iyung common tao. Insitutionally po, handa sila, nakita naman natin na kapag tinanong natin iyung DENR - handa sila, tinanong iyung MMDA - handa sila, DPWH - handa rin sila, pero kapag tinanong ninyo ang iyong mga kapatid, kababayan dun sa inyong mga barangay ay hindi po nila alam kung anong gagawin nila kapag nagkaroon ng ganitong klaseng lindol, hindi rin po nila alam kung ano ang gagawin nila kapag nagkaroon ng tsunami so may kakulangan pa, am just citing the obvious, na marami po silang ginagawang meetings - okay iyan coordinating councils with all the mayors nakikita ko palagi sa TV yan ok yan, sa newspapers nababasa ko po but are these mayors coordinating down to the ground level of puroks and sitios, have these mayors disseminated the information to the volunteer workers of the barangays? Have the common masses have an understanding dito sa anong dapat gawin nila pag nagkaroon ng earthquake - before, during and after an earthquake - may tatlong protocol iyan eh, iyun ang dapat nilang gawin eh sa tingin ko kulang pa at kailangan pa siguro ayusin ito, kailangan siguro gumalaw na ang ating national iyung ating bagong office of civil defense under the new disaster risk reduction act and we should already get this down to the level of the masses. Gamitin po ang trimedia, radio, tv, gumawa ng infomercials kasi dati naalala ko merong informercials eh ngayon hindi ko na nakikita ito. Dapat siguro mag disseminate, katulad ng sinabi ni chairperson kanina, na may mga libro ang Vigan, siguro bigyan na lang ng poster, endorsed by Angel Aquino, Ding Dong Dantes or Piolo Pascual para talagang maikabit nila ito sa mga tahanan pati na rin mga calendar bigyan sila para magamit talaga nila at andun nakalagay kung ano ang mga dapat nilang gawin king magkaroon ng lindol, mga steps to be taken. So, I am a little bit more on the cautious side, with all due respect to my chairperson, ako kasi I am a rescuer we'd like to rescue less people in case of calamity because of the people's awareness of what to do in times of disasters.

S/Loren: Let me clarify that statement, I didn't say that we are very prepared but compared to where we were.....

S/Migz: Dapat gawin natin itong eye-opener itong nangyari sa Japan all communities concerned, govertment, local and national agencies....

Q: what have we learned from Ondoy experience

S/Migz: Sa tingin ko ay kulang na kulang ang nagawa ng ating gobyerno in terms of coming up with long term mitigation measures, iyung LGUs naghanda na sila ng maraming rubber boats, trained personnel, pero in terms of govt infrastructures - drainage, declogging the esteros ay parang kulang pa rin kaya't natatakot kami ni Ma'am Loren na baka kung umulan ulit ng ganung kalakas at katagal ay magkaroon ulit tayo ng baha dito sa Metro Manila maybe not to the level of Ondoy pero nakita naman natin in the last few months eh kaunting ulan lang eh baha agad nakita naman natin so in other words, we had not done any long term efforts to come up with infrastructure to protect us from these floods gaya ng ginawa sa Los Angeles, wala po ang sinasabi kong spillway, or arterial spillway to declog Laguna de Bay, wala panay lip service lang eh, under this administration sana magkaroon po ng long term solutions.

Dito sa earthquake drills, I'd like to request the President, isang pakiusap sa ating pangulo na sana siya na ang manguna dito sa mga earthquake drills sa govt offices, gawin po nila sa Malacanang, that is a 100 year old structure i am sure that is not as exactly a very safe or sturdy structure so dapat siguro gawin nila earthquake drill iyan kasama ang media para napakagandang exposure at sumunod ang iba pang govt agencies. Isa pa tama po si Sen. Loren itong building na ito kinausap po nya ang in charge dito sa ating building pero it appears that the last earthquake drill was two years ago and a study that they showed was not approved by DPWH kayat tinanong ko si Sec. Singson kung meron po itong approval at kasama sa kanyang recommendation apparently wala pa at hindi pa kasama ang Senado sa kanyang assessment so again I hope that we take this seriously dahil ayaw natin mangyari na may lindol na malakas at nandito po tayo sa Senado na hindi handa sa ganung klaseng catastrophe.

Q: should the DPWH publish, reveal the list of risky or delikadong buildings at lugar?

S/Migz: I think it shouldn't be, it's a public infrastructure list ...I don't think it should be kept a secret, i personally feel dapat malaman po ito ng occupants kasi biro mo pag nagassess sila bldg. For example, itong Senate nagassess sila, for example, sabihin nila that it is not a safe bldg it is our right as senators, secretariat and staff to know para naman makapaghanda tayo, there are methods to prepare....techniques to survive an earthquake it is in the internet.

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