THERE is no reason for the Senate to reject President Rodrigo “Rody” Duterte’s request for Congress to pass a bill creating the Department of Disaster Resilience (DDR) which will require an initial P2 billion funding if it can allocate P10 billion for the construction of its own building at the Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig City, a House leader said.
Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, DDR’s principal author, said Sens. Richard Gordon and Panfilo “Ping” Lacson should reconsider their opposition in light of the continued deaths of Filipinos due to calamities.
“Well, gastos din pala ‘yung paglipat sa BGC, unahin na nila ‘yun. Napakasimple lang naman ang sinasabi ko, unahin muna ‘yung P10 billion na paglipat sa BGC,” Salceda, chairman of the House committee on ways and means, said over dzBB.
“Napakasimple lang naman ang argumento d’yan eh, kanya-kanya tayong priorities, ano ba ang prayoridad mo?,” Salceda, vice chairperson of the House committee on appropriations, added.
The DDR was among the priority bills enumerated by President Duterte in his State of the Nation Address (SONA), prompting the House of Representatives under the leadership of former Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano to approve the measure on third and final reading.
The approval of DDR during Cayetano’s speakership was in line with the directive of President Duterte to strengthen the country’s defense against various calamities.
“Ang Mayon hindi ko mailipat ng Masbate, ang mga bagyo hindi ko mailipat ng Japan, ang mga paglindol hindi ko mailipat mula sa Mindanao papunta kung saan. Sympre mga permanente na ito dahil sa lokasyon ng Pilipinas. Ang permanenteng problema, kailangan ng permanenteng solusyon,” Salceda explained.
“Eh maraming mamamatay sa gusto ng Senado, ‘yun ang gusto kong sagutin nila. Ibig sabihin parang sinasabi nila inevitable, eh samantalang ang karamihan po ng namamatay dahil sa sakuna ay preventable kung meron tayong institutsyon para ayusin yan para ihanda ang mga tao, ang mga komunidad at lokal government,” Salceda stressed.
“Ibig sabihin parang surrender tayo okey lang may sampung mamamatay, basta sampu lang, anong klaseng logic ‘yun?” He asked.
