Senate approves disaster response bill

THE Senate approved on third and final reading Senate Bill 2451, or the Ligtas Pinoy Centers Act, a disaster response measure. This proposed legislation mandates the construction of evacuation centers nationwide in every city and municipality. "As principal author of this measure, I just want to commend our colleagues and congratulate the sponsor of this bill, Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada, for prioritizing this measure," said Sen. Bong Go, the bill's principal author, during the plenary session on Monday. "Our country is highly vulnerable to natural hazards, attributed primarily to our country's location. We cannot deny the plight of the Filipino people who live along coastal communities and many others prone to such dangers," he added. "When I traveled all over the Philippines, I noticed that whenever there was a typhoon, flood, earthquake, or volcanic eruption, there were no proper evacuation centers. Sometimes, schools or dilapidated basketball courts were used as evacuation centers. There were no comfort rooms and no proper medicines as our countrymen suffered illness. Classes were disrupted whenever schools were used as evacuation centers," Go said. The senator proposed vital measures to the law, including regular audits of expenditures on infrastructures used as evacuation centers, noting a yearly audit and immediately after a disaster would suffice to ensure the readiness of the facilities.