THUR5DAY, DECEMBER 5, 2019

'[iscy to compel
s*lons tCI hasten
nmR bill pnssage'
THE vast destruction wrought bY TY-
nhoon " lisov'and Lhe widescale mis-
in ir inflictid on thousands of Filipi-
nos, aside from the casualties it left
behind, should now compel Congress
ro pass. this time without hitches. the
bill creating the Depannient of Disas-
ter Resilience. .

Albay Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda,

chair of the House Ways aud Means
Committee and principal author ofthe
DDR proposal, said in a TV inlen iew
the Pliilippines had -suffered enough
acrual and potential losses. damages
and disruption due to lhe increas-
ing liequency o[ [erocious climate
events."
"The govemment should now be de-
cisive in creating a full deparknent to
effectively carry out programs required
to address the tb-reats, respond to dis-
asteff and develop the culture of resil-
ience needed for survival," he added.
Tisoy lashed the country early this
week, made landfall in Albay and
neighboring Sorsogon with 175 to
230-kilometer-per-hbur \winds, the
strongest so far in years, leaving a
wide swath of destruction in its wake
across southem Luzon and northem
Visayas. "
Among those heavily de\ astated
was the Legazpi City Domestic Air-
port located in Albay's Salceda's
second district, which prompted
the lawmaker to seek the help of
the Civil Aviation Authority of the
Phiiippiries and the Department of
TrausDortirlion for the immediate
restor'arion and resurnpLirrn of fl ights
within the week.
Both CAAP chief Jim Sydiongco
and DOTI Sec. Arthur Tugade have
pledged to immediately send a team to
assist in the immediate resumption of
flights.
the Legazpi Domestic Airpon is
"the face ol Albay and Legazpi City,
so it should not become the image of
Tisoy's destruction but the icon ofAl-
bay resilieuce.''
Albav was a model for "zero casu-
altv" a;d disaster resilience when Sal-
ceda was its gorernor for nine years.
gainin! recognilion fiom the United
Nations, It registered a zero casualty
record in 2014 during the onslaught
ofTyphoon "Glenda," amid reports of
numerous casualties and injuries else-
where. The principie was adopted sub-
sequently by the national govemment.
operi* 'Al
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