The Department of National Defense is pushing for a P10 billion annual budget for disaster preparedness in the country, Undersecretary Ernesto Carolina said at the National Disaster Consciousness month celebration at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City yesterday.

Carolina said the country is losing an average P30 billion to disasters every year, citing a study made by the Office of the Civil Defense and the Philippine Senate

Every time there is a disaster, you respond and relocate people and fix damages, he said.

If we can automatically put a cap on payments of foreign debt, which is 30 percent of the national budget, why can't we appropriate P5 billion to P10 billion a year for disaster preparedness so that we can invest our human resources in capacity building, so that our people will be risk reduction and preparedness oriented, rather than waiting disaster to happen and being prepared to respond, Carolina said. By pushing a P10 billion budget for disaster preparedness, Carolina said that it should also include the housing component.

"I think it makes sense that our legislators look at this not as a cost. If you compare it to what we are losing of P30 billion a year, then you know that it is not a cost, but an investment," he stressed.

With an investment of P10 billion a year, government is expected to have savings of P20 billion a year, he said.

Presidential Adviser for Western Visayas Rafael Coscolluela yesterday admitted that he was frustrated by the government bureaucracy that works very slowly, especially in disaster preparedness and quick response.

"I wish that government is able to respond quicker in the same way as our volunteer groups, but we follow rules that very often make us inefficient and ineffective", Coscolluela said.

He, however, said Negros Occidental is very fortunate to have the strong commitment of the private sector to help the local government units in the quick disaster response and preparedness, citing the establishment of the Amity Public Safety Academy, among others .

With the partnership and cooperation between the private sector and LGUs, we have in-place a disaster preparedness and emergency response mechanism, he said.

Negros Occidental has been listed in the Hall of Fame of the Department of National Defense in terms of disaster preparedness and emergency response.

"If this can be replicated throughout the country, I have no doubt that the effects of disasters in the Philippines will be minimized and that our ability to respond to the needs of victims will be so much quicker," he said.

Coscolluela also expressed his appreciation to the USAID for its Program for Enhancement of Emergency Response, for providing the Philippines with a better capability to handle disasters.

Dione Cottril, deputy chief for the Program for Enhancement of Emergency Response of USAID, said they are working closely with the Office of the Civil Defense, and are ready to provide disaster preparedness and quick response training to LGUs and the private sector engaged in such endeavor.*GPB

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