Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Wednesday stressed the need for consensus and alignment across the government and the private sector amid the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, as the Senate adopted a resolution he sponsored urging the Executive Branch to craft a national contingency framework as soon as possible.
Senate Resolution No. 343, co-authored by 22 senators and co-sponsored by the Senate President, calls on the government to establish a National Contingency Framework that would allow the country to anticipate, prepare for, respond to, and recover from major domestic and international crises through a coordinated whole-of-government and whole-of-nation approach.
Cayetano said the country must first build agreement across institutions before it can respond effectively to large-scale emergencies.
“’Pag sobrang bigat ng problema, apektado y’ung region at buong mundo dahil we are now a global village and we now see na intricate na masyado ang koneksyon ng mga ekonomiya,” he said.
“It’s like clockwork. ‘Di mo pwedeng sabihin na ito lang ang sira kaya umaandar pa y’ung relo,” he added.
Cayetano said the resolution aims to strengthen cooperation among the national government, local governments, and the private sector during emergencies.
“That is the spirit of this resolution, to call on the Executive [branch] dahil sila ang tinalaga ng ating konstitusyon to build a consensus with the private sector [and] with the local governments. To be fair, they are doing that. Nag-announce agad sila ng mga measures,” he said.
He said policies and programs must also be aligned across national agencies, local governments, and the private sector. He added that crises often test the strength of a nation’s foundations.
Citing lessons from past global crises, Cayetano warned that escalating geopolitical tensions could disrupt global oil supply routes and trigger economic shocks if critical infrastructure is damaged.
He also said crises can create both challenges and opportunities, depending on how countries prepare and respond.
“Let’s not miss opportunities. Ang lahat ng crisis may winners [at] may losers. There are things that will divide us, [But this contingency framework] is to prepare us not only for the challenges but also for the opportunities,” he said.