MANIFESTATION
Senator Jinggoy Ejercito Estrada
Third Reading Approval of Senate Bill No. 2999 under Committee Report No. 533
Declaration of State of Imminent Disaster
June 9, 2025
As Chairperson of the Committee on National Defense and Security, Peace, Unification and Reconciliation, I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my dear colleagues for the Third Reading approval of Senate Bill No. 2999 or the “Declaration of State of Imminent Disaster Act.”
Our heartfelt thanks go to Sen. Pia Cayetano and Sen. Joel Villanueva for joining this representation as co-authors of this bill, to Sen. Loren Legarda and Deputy Minority Leader Sen. Risa Hontiveros for their insightful amendments, and to our good Minority Leader Sen. Koko Pimentel for his piercing interrogations which served to clarify for the record the objectives of this measure and allowed us to introduce this innovative concept to all.
We were informed by our resource persons, if all goes well, the Philippines will be the first in the region and in the world, to legislate anticipatory action.
Having the highest disaster risk in the world for three straight years and having lost so many lives and assets to super typhoons, landslides and flash floods, it is incumbent upon us legislators to identify and plug the policy gaps in our disaster management framework. We believe that this bill offers the needed access to resources and solid legal basis for government officials, specially the LGUs, to proactively address impending natural calamities based on scientific forecasts and comprehensive risk assessments.
Finally, we would like to acknowledge our partner agencies led by the Office of Civil Defense, and the non-government and international humanitarian organizations – World Food Programme, Philippine Red Cross, Start Network, Food and Agriculture Organization, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, and others, who not only lent their expertise to the Committee in the crafting of this bill, but who also painstakingly conducted the studies and pilot testing and simulation of anticipatory action measures in many parts of the Philippines which bolstered evidence that time-bound, hazard-specific pre-disaster interventions truly mitigate impact and significantly reduce losses.
Thank you, Mr. President.
