Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday renewed his call for a dedicated government entity focused on disaster rehabilitation, pointing to how recovery efforts from previous calamities were often interrupted by the next national crisis.
Speaking during his visit to earthquake-hit communities in Davao Region, Sarangani Province, and General Santos City on June 23, Cayetano said the government has improved its relief operations over the years but continues to face challenges in helping affected communities fully recover and rebuild.
“Ang aming gusto ay lumakas ang ating rehabilitation [efforts]. Magaling na ang gobyerno sa relief pero y’ung rehabilitation [hindi nabibigyan ng sapat na atensyon],” he said.
Cayetano is the author of Senate Bill No. 105, a measure he has been pushing since 2013, which seeks to create an Emergency Response Department (ERD) that will serve as a “science-based, people-centered” agency in charge of disaster management from risk mitigation to rehabilitation.
The Minority Leader pointed to previous disasters in which rehabilitation efforts were overtaken by subsequent emergencies, leaving affected communities struggling to complete their recovery.
He cited the experience of Bohol following the October 2013 earthquake, when rehabilitation efforts were interrupted after Super Typhoon Yolanda struck less than a month later. He also noted how recovery initiatives in other areas were later overshadowed by the Marawi siege and the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Cayetano, the pattern highlights the need for a government body whose sole responsibility is to oversee rehabilitation and ensure that rebuilding efforts continue even after public attention shifts elsewhere.
“We have to have a separate entity na panay rehabilitation [ang tututukan]… Magagaling ang agency natin pero kalat kapag walang tututok,” he said.
Cayetano noted that in General Santos City alone, around 34,000 houses and 69 major public infrastructure require rehabilitation or rebuilding.
He said similar recovery efforts are needed in parts of Sarangani, Davao Oriental, and Sultan Kudarat that were affected by the earthquake.
“Kailangan pagdating sa pagmi-mitigate ng mga disasters at saka pagdating sa rehabilitation, may isang natuturo, may isang accountable, at isang nakatutok talaga d’yan,” he said.