Santiago urges passage of bills for typhoon preparation

Miriam Defensor-Santiago / Wikipedia Photo

MANILA — Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago yesterday urged her colleagues for the immediate passage of the bills she filed to improve the country’s typhoon preparation and disaster risk efforts.

Senate Bill No. 2561 or the National Flood Insurance bill aims to augment state funded assistance for disasters.

The bill filed by Santiago in January seeks to meet escalating costs of repairing damage to residential and other buildings and their contents.

It will enable people in flood-prone areas to purchase insurance against loss that are due to the physical damage or destruction of real or personal property caused by any flood.

These efforts will be through the creation of a National Flood Insurance Program.

At least five typhoon related laws have been filed by Santiago and are still pending in the Senate’s committee level.

Other bills include SB 394, the Flood Recovery Fund bill; SB 1576, the National Flood and Research Education bill; and SB 1724, the Culvert Safety bill.

SB 394 or the Flood Recovery Fund bill seeks to allow flood victims to avail of financial assistance in the form of no-interest loans from the fund which the bill seeks to create.

The National Flood and Research Education bill or SB 1576 , meanwhile, will create the Office of Flood Research Policy that aims to develop best measures for predicting, preventing and minimizing flooding and its effects.

Santiago, then urged her colleagues to prioritize the passage of these bills in preparation for the coming typhoons.

“The Philippines is on the western rim of the Pacific Ocean, the most tropical cyclone-prone waters on Earth, making the country very susceptible to typhoons. We cannot afford further tragic loss of lives or damage to property caused by floods,” Santiago said in a statement.