The House of Representatives Committee on Disaster Resilience held initial deliberations on proposed amendments to RA 10121 or the “Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act.”

Led by Disaster Resilience Committee Chairperson Rep. Alan 1 B. Ecleo, the House Panel took up a a total of nine (9) bills proposing amendments to the PDRRM Act, among which is Ecleo’s own HB 08077, which proposes the following amendments:

1. The period within which disaster-stricken Provinces can access the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund to be increased from two years under the present law to five years.

2. An Annual Sunset Review to be conducted by the Congressional Oversight Committee during the first Monday of every March of every year succeeding the effectivity of this act, or the calendar of congress allows, and on any other additional schedule if the need arises.

3. The Chairperson of the Committee on Disaster Resilience of the House of Representatives to be made the Co-Chairperson alongside Senate’s Chairperson of National Defense and Security.

“As we have seen in the aftermath of disasters like Typhoon Odette last 2021, two years is not enough to complete the requirements needed to access NDRRM Fund, especially when local government offices are among those devastated by the disaster,” said Ecleo.

The nine bills also include that of Speaker Martin Romualdez, which proposes among others the exemption of the NDRRM Fund from reversion into the General Treasury Fund upon non-usage after the fiscal year.