PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. finally created a new task force placing the government’s disaster response and crisis management operations under the Office of the President (OP).
Under his Executive Order (EO) No. 24, the President will select the chairperson and vice chairperson of the Disaster Response and Crisis Management Task Force from its members.
The members of the task force include the Office of the Executive Secretary, Department of National Defense (DND), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Health (DOH), Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Department of Transportation (DOTr) and Office of Civil Defense (OCD).
The task force will oversee and coordinate preparation, monitoring and evaluation of disaster risk management (DRRM) plans and programs on disaster preparedness and response.
It will also lead in developing approaches to disaster prevention, mitigation and response and collaborate with relevant government agencies and local governments for disaster preparedness and delivery of relief aid.
The new presidential body also has “oversight powers over government agencies with relevant mandates on disaster preparedness and response.”
This includes the power to convene the members of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) “for declaring and lifting a state of calamity, and approving disbursements from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund.”
The task force is also mandated to create Quick Response Groups which can be deployed during or in anticipation of the imminent impact of a disaster.
In November, Marcos announced he is considering transferring the jurisdiction over NDRRMC from the DND to the OP to address the council’s budget issues.
Currently, the NDRRMC relies on the funding of its member agencies for its operations.
The transfer is meant to be an alternative to the proposed creation of the Department on Disaster Resilience (DDR) in Congress.