APRIL 28, 2014

NR # 3450B

National Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Development Authority proposed

House Minority Leader Ronaldo B. Zamora has stressed the necessity for a central planning and implementing agency on the early recovery and rehabilitation of disasterstricken areas in the Philippines. !he country has been recorded as among the top countries "ith the most number of disasters and natural calamities. !he Philippine #ational Red $ross reported that %&'(%) *ilipinos "ere killed and +,'%-+',-. others "ere affected by natural disasters and calamities in a span of ./ years since the +/s'0 Zamora noted. Zamora is author of the proposed #ational Rehabilitation and Reconstruction 1evelopment 2uthority 3#RR124 2ct of ./&%0 contain in HB %(5+' referred for appropriate action to the House committee on 6overnment 7nterprises and Privati8ation chaired by Rep. 9esus #. :acdalan. !he #RR12 shall be an independent and autonomous body and shall have the same status as that of a national government agency' attached to the ;ffice of the President. !he proposed agency' "hich shall be under the control and supervision of the President' shall be composed of a 1irector-6eneral and three 3%4 1eputy 1irectors6eneral' to be appointed by the President. $iting reports by the <nternational Red $ross and Red $rescent :ocieties' Zamora said the country is the ,th most accident-prone country in the "orld after finding out that in a span of ten years 3&++.-.//&4 some )'(/+'+(- *ilipinos "ere either killed or in=ured as a result of disasters or man-made calamities. ;ther disasters include fires' vehicular accidents' sea mishaps' tornadoes' massacres' plane crash' bombing incidents and earth>uakes. 1ata from the 1isaster Response ;perations Monitoring and <nformation $enter 31R;M<$4 sho"ed that there "ere %&% disaster incidents in the country in .//.' up from only &++ incidents in .//&. <n particular' there "ere &./ fire incidents that affected &)',%/ households in .//.' -% deportation or relocation incidents' .. armed conflicts that distressed or dislocated ('(+& families' .. bombing incidents or e?plosions' .. flash floods that affected .%,',&, households' and 5 destructive typhoons that distressed )-('%,) families.

Recently' !yphoon Haiyan or @olanda "as recorded as one of the deadliest natural disasters that ever hit the country' but itAs far from the only one since our country is located in an area that has been struck by a number of ma=or storms' Zamora recalled. Be have suffered from an ine?haustible number of deadly typhoons' earth>uakes' volcano eruptions and other natural disasters due to our countryAs location along the Ring of *ire' or typhoon belt C a large Pacific ;cean region "here many of the 7arthAs volcanic eruptions and earth>uakes occur'0 he e?plained. HB %(5+ seeks to establish the #RR12 to accelerate the early recovery' reconstruction and rehabilitation of areas affected by disasters. !he 2uthority is empo"ered' capacitated' and focused in order to fulfil its mandate better' rather than =ust being a mere coordinating agency. <t is empo"ered to be an implementing authority' "ith the aim of building back better communities and infrastructures'0 Zamora pointed out. He further cited the need to establish an 2uthority "hich shall focus its efforts on addressing the impacts on the economy of disasters' adding that a Bloomberg report stated that the economic impact of super typhoon @olanda in the country may reach up to D:E&,-billion 3PhP -/, billion4. 2side from the establishment of an 2uthority' this legislation also seeks to support survivors' communities' and the affected areas themselves to"ards self-sufficiency and the rebuilding of damagedFdevastated infrastructure as fast as possible to spur economic gro"th in the soonest time after the disaster'0 the author added. Like"ise' the bill envisions the creation of :pecial Zones for Reconstructions in order to speed up the process of rebuilding' offering various incentives and systems for faster economic gro"th in areas hit by a disaster. <t is also vital to note that the #RR12 is authori8ed to receive donations andFor grants from local or foreign sources' and issue reconstruction bonds in consultation "ith the Monetary Board and the 1epartment of *inance. 2ccountability' responsibility and transparency mechanism are put in place to ensure that all funds entrusted to it is used only for the purposes intended'0 Zamora concluded. 3%/4 dpt