Undersecretary for Disaster Reduction and Climate Change Renato Solidum of the Department of Science and Technology on Wednesday said should a Department of Disaster Resilience push through, DOST must not be included.
He said while the creation of the DDR was a welcome move, DOST should maintain its independence.
“We at DOST want it to be a separate agency from DDR, and just be a partner. We want to focus more on giving the warnings just like what we have been doing right now,” he said.
“Aside from being a coordinating [agency], it is also an implementing [agency]. To implement programs, for example, the community-based preparedness…” he noted.
He said there is really a need to create a government agency that shall look into “managing the disaster” before and after it happens to lower the risks of deaths.”
Last October, Congress approved on third and final reading a bill seeking to establish DDR.
