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Quezon City Ve ev
NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session
Begun and held in Metro Manila on the day of two

thousand and twenty

HOUSE BILL NO. 2 539

Introduced by Representative Ambrosio “Boy” C. Cruz, Jr.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Under the principle of Parens Patriae, the government wields the power and duty
to act on behalf of, to intervene, and to protect its constituents from elements that they
cannot protect themselves from.

The Philippines being situated in the “Pacific Ring of Fire” is exposed to a
constant threat of typhoons, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and other natural
disasters. While natural disasters can hardly be completely prevented, the mitigation of
its impacts, disaster-preparedness, raised resilience, and a systematic, methodical, and
structured rehabilitation and recovery are efficient mitigators to reduce loss of human
lives and property.

The government has the duty to constitute a disaster risk reduction resilience
plan that can provide protection to its people by exhausting all means within the power
of the State.

Pursuant to Republic Act No. 10121 or tte Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction
and Management Act of 2010, there exists a National Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Council (NDRRMC). The NDRRMC is vested with policy-making,
coordination, integration, supervision, monitoring, and evaluation functions.

The creation of a separate department that will exercise coordination and
implementation functions can only further strengthen the country’s disaster
preparedness. Preparation is key, but efforts towards devoting resources for
rehabilitation and recovery are just as important.


This bill seeks to create a Department of Emergency and Disaster Resilience
which shall advance efforts towards disaster mitigation, preparedness, response, and
recovery, recognizing the sanctity of human life and the social function of property.

A resilient Philippines shall secure the people their resources and ensure
prosperity for the generations to come.

Considering the foregoing, passage of this bill is earnestly sought.

Boric
AKABROSIO “BOY” C. CRUZ, JR.

Representative, Fifth District of
Bulacan


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

Quezon City

NINETEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

HOUSE BILL No. 2 53 9

Introduced by Representative Ambrosio “Boy” C. Cruz, Jr.

AN ACT CREATING THE DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY AND DISASTER
RESILIENCE, DEFINING ITS POWERS, FUNCTIONS AND JURISDICTION,
APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress
assembled:

CHAPTER I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Section 1. Title - This Act shall be known as the “Department of Emergency and
Disaster Resilience Act”.

Section 2. Declaration of Policy - It shall be the policy of the State to maintain
peace and order, protect life, liberty, and property, and promote the general welfare of
the people, to wit, the State shall:

(a) Pursue a science-based, technology driven national policy of disaster risk
reduction and management;

(b) Maintain, preserve, and protect human life against disasters by
strengthening emergency response and lessening loss of human lives;

(©) Maintain, preserve, and protect property against disasters by providing
adequate information before, during, and after disasters;

(d) Invest, finance, and support research and inventive strategies and
solutions geared towards reducing exposure to calamities and disasters;


(ec) Develop and promote a systematic approach in providing warnings,
forecast, rescue, and quick response that is at par with international standards; and

() Instill a spirit of camaraderie, patriotism, and bayanihan in its citizens
during times of disasters, catastrophes, and calamities.

CHAPTER IL
DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY AND DISASTER RESILIENCE

Section 3. Scope - There is hereby created a Department of Emergency and
Disaster Resilience, hereinafter referred to as the Department, which shall be organized
within thirty (30) days after the approval of this Act.

The Department shall be the principal authority having control, supervision, and
management of national and local disaster, emergency, and risk reduction efforts and
undertakings.

The Department shall be responsible for the adoption of policies, plans,
programs, projects, schemes, strategies, and ventures relative to national and local
disaster preparedness, prevention, mitigation, and recovery.

The Department shall unify and harmonize existing local government plans and
programs and provide minimum standards of disaster response suitable and
appropriate to the requirements of each region taking into account the ecological
landscape, population, territory, and income of the area concerned.

In times of national emergency, when the Congress has authorized the President,
by law, to exercise powers necessary and proper to carry out a declared national policy,
the mandates of the Department shall be subordinate to the powers of the President, but
shall continue to remain in effect.

Section 4. Powers and Functions - The Department shall have the following
powers and functions:

(a) To unify existing government agencies and instrumentalities having
disaster risk reduction and emergency -related functions into the Department of
Emergency and Disaster Resilience;

(b) To promulgate policies consistent with the State’s Declaration of Policy;

(©) To develop an information system that will efficiently deliver information,
intel and details in times of emergency, before, during, and after the occurrence of


disasters;

(a) To construct, design, and create a smart city for each highly-urbanized
city;

(e) ‘To construct a National Disaster Response Center (NDRC);

(6) To construct, design, and operate an early warning and emergency alert
system for every coastal city and province;

(g) To construct, design, and operate an early warning and emergency alert
system for every city and province with an active or existing volcanoes and cities or
provinces where volcanoes may hereafter emerge;

(h) To construct, design, and operate an early warning and emergency alert
system for every city and province with an active volcano;

(i) To construct, design, and operate an early warning and emergency alert
system for every landslide and flooding prone city and province;

() To cause to be built and operate infrastructure, machinery, and inventions
as may be necessary for the proper implementation of this Act;

(k) To cause to be built and operate safe zones;

0) To develop technologies, in partnership with other concerned
government agencies and instrumentalities, to be utilized in disaster management
such as Global Positioning System (GPS), satellite and radio communications, Light
and Detection Ranging, Flood Hazard Maps, Seismographs, and Deep Ocean
‘Tsunami Detection Buoys;

(m) To equip and provide local government units (LGUs) with disaster kits;

(n) To advise the regional resilience headquarters, field offices, and
community offices;

(0) To equip and provide training and instruction to LGUs, in coordination
with civil society organizations and non-profit organizations working for disaster
management;

(p) To exercise the State’s right of eminent domain for purposes relative to
disaster risk reduction;


(q) __ Toacquire and possess property of all kinds and dispose of such property
as may be necessary for the operations of the Department and for the fulfillment of
its mandates;

() To conduct an annual national risk assessment during the last quarter of
every year;

(s) To craft, compose, prepare, and construct guidelines for national and local
emergency and disaster risk response, reduction, and recovery and ensure
compliance with such guidelines; and

(t) To report to the President of the Philippines, the President of the Senate
and Speaker of the House of Representatives every first Monday of August of every
year.

CHAPTER Ill
EMERGENCY AND DISASTER MEASURES

Section 5. National Emergency and Disaster Measures - The National government
shall be responsible for the establishment, implementation, and enforcement of the
national resilience measures in accordance with the basic principles set forth in this Act.

Section 6. Local Emergency and Disaster Measures - LGUs shall be responsible for
the implementation and enforcement of local resilience measures under the direct
supervision and control of the Department.

Section 7. Private Sector Participation - The Department shall pursue a policy of
coordination with the public through joint campaigns, projects, and efforts with NGOs,
CSOs, and the like, in pursuit of the objectives of this Act.

Section 8. Standards of Emergency and Disaster Risk Reduction and Response - For the
purpose of promoting the measures relevant to local disaster risk reduction, LGUs shall
prepare and submit a comprehensive fundamental plan in accordance with guidelines
to be issued by the Department.

Section 9. Safety Zones - So as to achieve maximal disaster resilience, there shall
be established in every city, municipality, and province, a resilience shelter which shall
be activated and operational whenever determined necessary by the Department upon
the occurrence of any disaster or calamity.

CHAPTER IV


DEPARTMENTAL ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE

Section 10. Board of Trustees of the Department - The powers and duties described
herein for the fulfillment of the mandates of the Department shall be vested in a Board
of Trustees, which shall be composed of a Chairperson, a Vice Chairperson who shall act
as Operations Manager, and three members, who shall head the Executive Committees
of the Department.

The members of the Board of Trustees shall be natural-born citizens of the
Philippines and, at the time of their appointment, at least thirty-five years of age, of
good moral character, a duly licensed professional of recognized competence in
engineering, architecture, environmental planning, with at least five (5) years of actual
and distinguished experience in their respective fields of expertise, and must not have
been candidates for any elective position in the elections immediately preceding their
appointment.

The members of the Board of Trustees shall be appointed by the President with
the consent of the Commission on Appointments for a term of seven years without
reappointment. Of those first appointed, the Chairperson shall hold office for seven
years, the Vice Chairperson for five years, and the three members for three years,
without reappointment. Appointment to any vacancy shall be only for the unexpired
term of the predecessor. In no case shall any Member be appointed or designated in a
temporary or acting capacity.

The members of the Board may for cause be suspended or removed by the
President of the Philippines upon the recommendation of the Secretary of Justice after
due notice and hearing.

Section 11. Executive Committees - The three members of the Board of Trustees
shall organize an Executive Committee for Administration and Finances, Planning and
Operations, and Planning and Services. Each Executive Committee shall be under the
direct supervision of the Chairperson.

The Executive Committees shall be responsible for providing the Board of
‘Trustees assistance in carrying out the plans and projects of the Department. The
Executive Committee shall administer, supervise, and control the operations of projects
implemented by the Department.

‘A monthly report shall be made to the Board of Trustees by each Executive
Committee every last Monday of each month.

Section 12. Resilience Headquarters - A national resilience headquarters shall be
built and established in the City of Manila. There shall be established regional resilience


headquarters of the Department in the thirteen (13) administrative regions of the
country, the Cordillera Administrative Region, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao, Field Offices in every province, and Community Offices in
every municipality whenever feasible.

CHAPTER V
INTER-AGENCY AND INTER-LOCAL GOVERNMENT COOPERATION

Section 13. Sectoral Regulation - The Department shall coordinate with the
following sectors for the effective enforcement of this Act:

(a) Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG);
(b) Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD);

() The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP);

(d) Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP);

(e) Philippine National Police (PNP);

() Philippine Coast Guard (PCG);

(g) Office of Civil Defense (OCD);

(h) The Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC);
(i) The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR);
@ The Department of Health (DOH);

(k) The Department of Energy (DOE);

i) The Department of Science and Technology (DOST);

(m) The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA);
(n) Local Government Units (LGUs); and

(o) Other relevant government instrumentalities.

CHAPTER VI
PROHIBITED ACTS AND PENALTIES

Section 14. Prohibited Acts - Any person, natural or juridical, who commits any
of the following prohibited acts shall be held liable and subject to criminal and
administrative penalties as provided in the succeeding Section of this Acts, without
prejudice to the imposition of other criminal, civil, or administrative liabilities under
existing laws, Provided, that if the offender is a corporation, partnership or any juridical
person, the penalty shall be imposed upon the responsible officers, as the case may be,
who participated in, or by their gross negligence, allowed the commission of the crime,
Provided further that, if the offender is an alien, he or she shall, in addition to the
penalties herein prescribed, be deported without further proceedings after serving the


penalties prescribed, Provided finally that, if the offender is a public official or employee
and lie or she is found guilty of acts penalized hereunder, he or she shall, in addition to
the penalties prescribed herein, suffer perpetual or temporary absolute disqualification
from office, as the case may be.

1) Delaying, impeding, obstructing, or suppressing the delivery of relief
goods, aid items, basic necessities, emergency supplies, and essential goods;

2) False accounting, improper handling, storage, transportation, and
distribution of relief goods, aid items, basic necessities, emergency supplies, and
essential goods;

3) Forestalling the entry of response or relief personnel and equipment to
disaster zones for no justifiable reasons;

4) Buying and selling relief commodities allocated for distribution to victims
for whatever purpose;
5) Unlawfully seizing, hijacking, or commandeering relief commodities;

6) Altering, tampering, disabling, and impairing the operations of the
Department, Resilience Headquarters, field offices, community offices, any of their
equipment, devices, machinery, apparatus, implements, and articles, or any of their
on-site emergency and disaster relief response;

7) Misrepresenting oneself as a disaster victim to obtain aid or relief intended
for actual disaster victims;

8) __ False reporting of emergencies or disasters;
9) Attempting to commit any of the above-enumerated prohibited acts; and

10) Facilitating the commission or benefiting, directly, or indirectly, from the
commission of any of the above-enumerated prohibited acts, with knowledge of the
source of such proceeds.

Section 15. Penalties - The following penalties shall be imposed on any person,
natural or juridical, that commits any of the above-enumerated prohibited acts in the
preceding Section:

(a) Imprisonment of not less than nine (9) years but not more than fifteen (15)
years or a fine of not less than three million pesos (Php 3,000,000.00) but not more
than five million pesos (Php 5,000,000.00) or ten (10) times the value of the relief
commodities, whichever is higher, or both imprisonment and fine, at the discretion


of the court, shall be imposed upon any person found guilty of violating Section 14
(1) to (6), as well as the confiscation or forfeiture of the paraphernalia used in the
commission of the prohibited acts in favor of the government;

(b) Imprisonment of not less than twelve (12) years but not more than
eighteen (18) years or a fine of not less than five million pesos (Php 5,000,000.00) but
not more than nine million pesos (Php 9,000,000.00), or both imprisonment and fine,
at the discretion of the court, shall be imposed upon any person found guilty of
violating Sections 14 (6), as well as the confiscation or forfeiture of the paraphernalia
used in the commission of the prohibited acts in favor of the government;

(©) Imprisonment of not less than six (6) years but not more than nine (9)
years or a fine of not less than two million pesos (Php 2,000,000.00) but not more than
five million pesos (Php 5,000,000.00), or both imprisonment and fine, at the discretion
of the court, shall be imposed upon any person found guilty of violating Sections 14
(7) to (8), as well as the confiscation or forfeiture of the paraphernalia used in the
commission of the prohibited acts in favor of the government;

(a) Imprisonment of not less than three (3) years but not more than six (6)
years or a fine of not less than one million pesos (Php 1,000,000.00) but not more than
three million pesos (Php 3,000,000.00), or ten (10) times the value of the relief
commodities, or both imprisonment and fine, at the discretion of the court, shall be
imposed upon any person found guilty of violating Sections 14 (9) to (10), as well as,
the confiscation or forfeiture of the paraphernalia used in the commission of the
prohibited acts in favor of the government; and

(ec) Payment of the costs of repair, replacement, or construction of any of the
equipment of the Department which has been the object of any of the prohibited acts
shall be imposed upon any person who committed any of the foregoing acts.

CHAPTER VII
FINAL PROVISIONS

Section 15. Implementing Rules and Regulations - The Department shall
promulgate the necessary implementing rules and regulations (IRR) for the
implementation of this Act, in consultation with the concerned government agencies,
within one hundred ninety (190) days from the effectivity of this Act. The IRR shall take
effect fifteen (15) days following its complete publication in two (2) newspapers of
general circulation.

Section 16. Appropriations - The amounts necessary to carry out the initial
implementation of this Act shall be sourced from any of the National Treasury, and is


hereby appropriated and authorized to be released for the organization of the
Department and its initial operations.

Thereafter, funds sufficient to fully carry out the objectives, powers, and
functions of the Department shall be appropriated every fiscal year in the General
Appropriations Act.

The Department shall submit its annual budget, which shall include, among
others, detailed information on the compensation and benefits received by their
employees to the Office of the President for approval.

Section 17. Repealing Clause - All laws, decrees, orders, resolutions, instructions
and rules and regulations or parts thereof which are inconsistent with this Act are
hereby deemed repealed or modified accordingly.

Section 18. Separability Clause - If any provision or part of this Act is declared
unconstitutional, the remaining parts or provisions not affected shall remain in full force

and effect.

Section 19. Effectivity - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days from its
complete publication in at least two (2) newspapers of general and local circulation.

Approved,