Senate bet eyes disaster body

A SENATORIAL candidate on Monday proposed the creation of a government body that will monitor active volcanoes and earthquakes and develop response strategies for natural disasters.

In a statement, ex-Interior Secretary Benjamin C. Abalos, Jr. said his proposed government commission would help address gaps in the country’s disaster response framework, promising to file the bill if he is elected to the Senate.

“It’s about establishing a commission that would respond not only to Taal, Kanlaon, Mayon and other volcanoes, but also to earthquakes, including the ‘Big One,’” he said.

He noted that when he was the Interior and Local Government secretary, they had been working on local resiliency protocols with the Office of Civil Defense and National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council.

“The system works well for minor disasters, but our challenge lies in handling catastrophes as massive as the one that struck Myanmar,” he added.

Experts have raised concerns that a 7.2-magnitude earthquake triggered by the movement of the 100-kilometer West Valley Fault than run across the Philippine capital could lead to thousands of deaths and cause widespread damage to infrastructure. — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio