SPONSORSHIP SPEECH
Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada
Declaration of State of Imminent Disaster bill
Senate Bill No. 2999 under Committee Report No. 533
June 2, 2025
Mr. President, distinguished colleagues, as your Chairperson of the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, I am honored to sponsor Senate Bill No. 2999 under Committee Report No. 533, An Act Establishing a Mechanism on the Declaration of State of Imminent Disaster, Providing the Criteria for its Declaration and Lifting, Enabling Anticipatory Measures, and Appropriating Funds Therefor.
The Philippines, for the third straight year, emerged on top of 193 countries in the world with the highest disaster risk according to the World Risk Index 2024. This underscores the pressing need to give preferential attention to national policies that will reduce our vulnerabilities, manage disaster risks, and speed up response and recovery.
That is why I am thankful to our dear colleagues for acting positively in our proposed legislation establishing evacuation centers for every city and municipality, which addresses the necessity for safe and decent temporary shelters for those affected by natural or human-induced calamities. That measure is now a law – Republic Act No. 12076 or the “Ligtas Pinoy Centers Act”.
Once again, my dear colleagues, I humbly seek the support of the men and women of this august chamber as I present yet another measure that seeks to strengthen our disaster resilience amid the expected harsher impacts of climate change, and plugs a crucial gap between disaster preparedness and response.
Hindi naman po lingid sa kaalaman ng lahat na ang Pilipinas ay dinaraanan ng humigit kumulang na dalawampung bagyo kada taon, at ang mga ito ay nagbubunga rin ng iba pang kalamidad gaya ng flash flood, landslides, at storm surge.
Sa huling quarter noong nakaraang taon, hindi natin malilimutan ang pagragasa at paghagupit ng anim na magkakasunod na sama ng panahon sa loob lamang ng isang buwan na nagpahirap sa milyon-milyon nating mga kababayan at nagdala ng kabuuang pinsala sa agrikultura at imprastraktura na nagkakahalaga ng dalawampung bilyong piso (Php 20 bilyon).
Ang mga kalamidad gaya nito ay inaasahang magpapatuloy sa hinaharap. At bilang mga mambabatas, patuloy po tayong nagbabalangkas ng mga panukalang hindi lamang magpapabilis ng pag-responde ng pamahalaan matapos ang sakuna, higit sa lahat ay ang magtitiyak na magiging maagap, listo, at handa ang mga awtoridad bago pa man dumating ang banta ng kalamidad.
We thank our stakeholders for engaging our Defense Committee and for assisting us with this innovative policy which introduces the concept of “State of Imminent Disaster”. Compared to a State of Calamity which is declared after the occurrence of a disaster and is based on the mass casualties and major damages and disruption to the way of life, the State of Imminent Disaster is declared ex ante, that is based on forecasts and assessments, and enables the government, both at the national and local levels, to utilize available resources and proactively respond to an impending natural calamity.
Maaaring bago po ito sa ating pandinig, ngunit matagal na po itong pinag-aaralan ng National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council o NDRRMC. In 2022, NDRRMC issued Resolution No. 7 which cited the need to review protocols for declaration of State of Calamity with consideration for advance declaration, and resolved to facilitate the institutionalization of a State of Imminent Disaster.
Under our Committee Report, the State of Imminent Disaster may be declared by the President or the local chief executive upon the recommendation of the NDRRMC or the Regional DRRMCs respectively, after a conduct of a pre-disaster risk assessment in anticipation of a highly probable disaster with projected catastrophic impact.
Corollary to such declaration are anticipation action measures. “Anticipatory action” is defined as “action taken to reduce the adverse impacts of forecasted hazards before it occurs or before its most acute impacts are felt.” This may sound as a novel concept to many of us, but for the information of the body, “Anticipatory Action or AA” is already found under the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Plan 2020-2030.
AA is also promoted under the Work Programme of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Management Response which was ratified by member-states in 2005 and is legally binding in the region since 2009.
During the Committee deliberations with our stakeholders, we learned that “elements of AA are already existing though not explicit in our present laws,” including the Republic Act No. 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010. Because of this, local government units are “hesitant to bolster anticipatory action by allocating more resources in the absence of a national policy framework on AA for fear of fund disallowances.”
Sa madaling salita, dahil sa gray area na ito, maraming lokal na opsiyal ang natatakot “ma-disallow ng COA” at kalaunan ay makasuhan. At ito po ay nagiging isang malaking balakid sa epektibo at maagap na pag-aksyon sa panahon ng kalamidad. Sa ilalim ng ating panukala, bubuksan natin ang 70% ng disaster fund upang magamit ng ating lokal na pamahalaan para sa anticipatory actions.
This bill benefits from the technical expertise and experience of our stakeholders from the government and international humanitarian organizations who advocated and strongly supported the passage of this measure.
In the remaining days of our plenary session before the sine die adjournment of the 19th Congress, I respectfully call on our dear colleagues to also support this landmark legislation that provides explicit guidelines for efficient mobilization of resources during disasters, and marks a definitive shift from a reactive and passive response toward a more proactive, anticipatory approach in times of calamities.
Let us turn our top ranking in the World Risk Index into an opportunity of becoming a trailblazer in instituting pioneering policies on disaster management and disaster resilience.
Maraming salamat po, Mr. President.