On Monday, just nine days after Republic Act 12287 or the Declaration of State of Imminent Disaster Act was signed into law, what could have been the first application of its provisions passed untested.
Super typhoon Nando smashed into the Batanes area with winds gusting up to 265 kph or 325 kph depending on the weather agency.
All the national government and local government units could do was issue directives for preemptive evacuations in the areas in the path of dangerous winds and torrential rains.
There was no way the LGUs could declare a state of imminent disaster and implement anticipatory measures ahead of the certain calamity, in the absence of approved Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) for RA 12287.
Under its provisions, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) is tasked with the drafting of the IRR within 60 days from the signing of the law.
This means that the NDRRMC can take its own sweet time to do its job until November 10, 2025, right at the peak of the super typhoon season when super howlers like “Nando” typically head straight or close by the Land of the Howling Winds.
A look at the history of RA 12287 indicates how long it took for the House Bill to become law.
HB 10422, entitled “An Act Strengthening the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management System, Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 10121, Otherwise Known as the “Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010,” was filed on May 15, 2024.
There were an initial 50 principal authors, with five of them representatives from typhoon-prone Bicol region: the much maligned Ako Bicol Rep. Zaldy Co and fellow partylist member Jil Bongalon, Camarines Sur Rep. Miguel Luis Villafuerte, Masbate Rep. Olga Kho, and Albay Rep. Joey Salceda.
Strangely, missing from the list were the two solons from Catanduanes – Lone District Rep. Eulogio Rodriguez and TGP Rep. Jose Teves Jr.
But, surely, they were among the 195 congress members who voted for the approval of HB 10422 on third reading on July 30, 2024, the same day it was transmitted to the Senate.
It would take the Upper House nearly a year to approve their own version in Senate Bill 2999, with Senators Jinggoy Estrada, Pia Cayetano, Joel Villanueva and Francis Tolentino on June 9, 2025.
The enrolled copy of the Bill was then sent to the Lower House, which concurred with the final version two days later.
This means there was a gap of 95 days between the House’s adoption of the Senate Bill and its signing into law by President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Sept. 12, 2025.
The NDRRMC could have used the time to prepare the draft IRR for the proposed law, there being no other amendments that could have been inserted into the Senate Bill already concurred in by the House.
But no, the council officials and their staff had to wait for the hard copy of RA 12287 to be signed by the President and transmitted to the council before it could act.
As the poet Geoffrey Chaucer so perfectly said, “time and tide wait for no man.”
Last week’s events likewise reminded us of the ways in which humans waste their resources: the trillions lost to ghost, substandard and misplaced flood control projects, and the three months that the NDRRMC wasted twiddling their thumbs while waiting for Malacañang to approve the State of Imminent Disaster Act.
And there’s one more: the way the Department of Social Welfare and Development disposes of its Family Food Packs, containing six (6) kilos of NFA rice, two (2) cans of sardines, four (4) cans of corned beef, four (4) cans of tuna flakes, five (5) sachets of 3-in-1 instant coffee, and five (5) sachets of powdered cereal milk.
The carton’s content is supposed to contain enough food to sustain a family of five (5) for two full days.
This is the reason hundreds of people from the barangays in Virac and nearby towns (residents of far-fling towns are hesitant to join due to the distance and transportation fares) flock to the Capitol’s People’s Day.
Surely, there is no problem with joining the queue starting at 7 AM, listening to the governor enumerate what he is doing, and receiving the food packs past lunch time.
But the most important issue here is why the DSWD continues to course its food packs through politicians in gaining “pogi” points from constituents when their own guidelines provide that the FFPs are meant only for relief augmentation for LGUs “in times of natural or man-made disasters.”
Based on the department’s “disaster response operations guidelines,” each DSWD Field Office should maintain the following at any given time at least 30,000 FFPs, 1,000 Family Kits, 1,000 Hygiene Kits, and P3 million worth of standby fund.
What if the low-pressure area east of Mindanao develops into another super typhoon and heads for Catanduanes, leaving the DSWD office here with no time to replenish its dwindling stocks?
Another disaster, worsened by waste of precious time and limited resources….