Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. ______ 
Introduced by Rep. MARIO VITTORIO “MARVEY” A. MARIÑO 
5th District, Batangas 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
It is notable that the government, led by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management 
Council (NDRRMC), has been conducting disaster preparedness programs particularly for earthquakes, 
fire, and other natural calamities and/or disasters to enhance our resiliency and preparedness in facing 
these catastrophes. It cannot be denied, however, that disasters are not limited to earthquakes, fire or 
natural calamities. It includes hazardous phenomena involving hazardous materials (HazMat) such as 
toxic chemicals, poisonous substances, or chemical, biological and radiological agents. 
The 1984 Bhopal disaster in India, for instance, demonstrated the dangers of HazMat releases not 
only to the facility workers, but also to neighboring communities. In this 1984 incident, a Union Carbide 
plant released approximately forty tons of Methyl Isocyanate (MIC) into the air killed about 5,000 
people and injured 50,000 more. The danger of storing said materials was also particularly evident in 
the explosion of a warehouse storing HazMats in Tianjin, China. This HazMat explosion killed 
hundreds of people. 
The United States Congress recognized the potential risks of releases and/or accidents in HazMats 
facilities by enacting the Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act (EPCRA) to help 
communities plan for chemical emergencies and prepare the community from potential risks. This 
representation seeks to do the same.  
This measure proposes to provide proper training and preparedness programs to ensure the 
systematic, safe, and orderly response to hazardous material releases and/or accidents particularly in 
industries and facilities dealing with hazardous materials, as well as nearby communities, so as to reduce 
the risks on their lives, limb and properties. This measure was consolidated into House Bill 9806 which 
was approved on 3rd Reading during the 18th Congress. 
In view of the foregoing, the early passage of this bill is earnestly requested.1 
MARIO VITTORIO “MARVEY” A. MARIÑO 
1 References: 
-
“What are hazardous materials?” Institute of Hazardous Materials Management, Retrieved
November 20, 2017 from https://www.ihmm.org/about-ihmm/what-are-hazardous-materials
July 1, 2022 
12:25 pm
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Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
NINETEENTH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
House Bill No. ______ 
Introduced by Rep. MARIO VITTORIO “MARVEY” A. MARIÑO 
5th District, Batangas 
AN 
ACT 
MANDATING 
THE 
CONDUCT 
OF 
EMERGENCY 
PREPAREDNESS DRILLS IN FACILITIES HANDLING, STORING, AND 
TRANSPORTING HAZARDOUS MATERIALS 
Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress 
assembled: 
SECTION 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as “HazMat Accidents Preparedness 
Act”. 
SECTION 2. Declaration of Policy. – It is the policy of the State to ensure systematic, 
safe, and orderly response to hazardous material releases and/or accidents so as to reduce the 
risks on the lives, limb, and properties of the people by providing education, training, and 
preparedness programs. 
SECTION 3. Definition of Terms. – 
a.
Emergency – refers to a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation requiring
immediate action, such as but not limited to hazardous material releases and/or
biological, chemical or radiological accidents.
b. Facility – means all buildings, equipment, structures, and other stationary items which
are located on a single site or on contiguous or adjacent sites and which are owned or
operated by the same person (or by any person which controls, is controlled by, or
under common control with, such person).
c.
Hazardous material (HazMat) – any item or agent (biological, chemical, radiological,
and/or physical), which has the potential to cause harm to humans, animals, or the
environment, either by itself or through interaction with other factors.
d. Motor vehicles - shall mean any vehicle propelled by any power other than muscular
power using the public highways, but excepting road rollers, trolley cars, street-
sweepers, sprinklers, lawn mowers, bulldozers, graders, fork-lifts, amphibian trucks,
and cranes if not used on public highways, vehicles which run only on rails or tracks,
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and tractors, trailers and traction engines of all kinds used exclusively for agricultural 
purposes. 
 
e. Release – means any spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting, emptying, 
discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping, or disposing into the environment 
(including the abandonment or discarding of barrels, containers, and other closed 
receptacles) of any hazardous chemical, extremely hazardous substance, or toxic 
chemical. 
 
SECTION 4. Emergency Preparedness Protocols in Facilities Handling, Storing, and 
Transporting HazMats. – Facilities handling, storing, and transporting HazMats shall 
formulate emergency preparedness protocols in case of releases, accidents, and other potential 
risks relative to the management, storage, and transportation of HazMats. Drills shall likewise 
be conducted to properly carry out these protocols. 
 
SECTION 5. Conduct of Emergency Preparedness Drills in Facilities Handling and 
Storing HazMats.  
 
a. Emergency preparedness drills on HazMat releases and/or accidents shall be conducted 
on a monthly basis in facilities handling, storing, and transporting hazardous materials, 
Provided nighttime drills shall be done at least thrice a year.  
 
b. The drills shall include: (i) the establishment of emergency communications system 
and evacuation routes and plans in case of HazMat releases, accidents and other 
hazardous phenomena (ii) practice and instruction concerning the location, use and 
operation of hazardous material protection suits, footwear, masks, gloves and other 
protective equipment, and (iii) evaluation of every concluded drill on the efficacy and 
efficiency of the plans, the problems/intervening threats encountered, and the potential 
remedies to such problems. 
 
c. A record of all drills shall be kept, and persons in charge of the facilities shall file 
quarterly written reports with the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management 
Council (RDRRMC), giving the time and date of each drill held.  
 
SECTION 6. Conduct of Emergency Preparedness Drills for Motor Vehicles 
Transporting HazMats.  
 
a. All facilities using or contracting motor vehicles for transporting HazMats shall 
conduct at least two (2) emergency preparedness, containment, and evacuation drills 
in a year, Provided nighttime drills shall be done at least once a year.  The first 
emergency drill shall be conducted during the first quarter of the year and the second 
during the third quarter. 
 
b. Each drill shall include the practice and instruction concerning the proper evacuation 
of the vehicles and proper containment of HazMats in case of releases, accidents, and 
other hazardous phenomena during transportation. 
 
c. Facility operators and drivers shall be trained and instructed by the RDRRMC to enable 
them to carry out the provisions of this Act. 
 


d. The person(s) in charge of the facilities shall certify in writing to the RDRRMC that 
the drills required herein have been conducted, giving the time and date of each drill 
held.  
 
SECTION 7. Implementing Agency. – The National Disaster Risk Reduction and 
Management Council (NDRRMC) and its regional and local offices shall oversee the 
implementation of this Act in each locality and shall keep record of the reports submitted by 
the facilities handling hazardous materials. 
 
SECTION 8. Penalties. – Building administrators or any person in charge of the 
administration or management the facilities who refuse or fail to carry out the provisions of 
this Act shall be given a warning for the first offense; a fine of Five Thousand Pesos 
(Php5,000.00) for the second offense; a fine of Ten Thousand Pesos (Php10,000.00) for the 
third offense; and imprisonment of one (1) month and a fine of Thirty Thousand Pesos 
(Php30,000.00) for subsequent offenses. The fines shall go to the funds of the local NDRRMC 
office and shall be used for disaster prevention and mitigation programs of the locality. 
 
SECTION 9. Repealing Clause. – All laws, decrees, executive orders, memorandum 
circulars inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby amended, repealed or modified 
accordingly. 
 
SECTION 10. Effectivity. – This act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication 
in the Official Gazette or in two (2) newspapers of general circulation. 
 
 
Approved,