AGRICULTURE SECRETARY Emmanuel F. Piñol said he supports the granting of emergency powers to President Rodrigo R. Duterte by Congress that will allow him to act more decisively in response to calamities like typhoons.
In a briefing, Mr. Piñol said: “I propose that the President should be given emergency powers to address the needs of the typhoon-affected areas more quickly.”
Mr. Piñol noted that the Philippines is experiencing consecutive natural calamities that have proved damaging to the agricultural sector.
“Right now, they have been coming one after the other — Habagat (southwest monsoon), Ompong (International name: Mangkhut), and Rosita (international name: Yutu). I will formally recommend that the President should be given emergency powers by Congress to respond to these calamities… The government’s response time needs to be not more than one month,” Mr. Piñol said.
The recommendation letter was due to be sent by Mr. Piñol on Tuesday, Oct. 30.
The proposed activities for government quick-response action include the repair of dikes and roads, among others, he said.
Mr. Piñol said that the current process for releasing funds to the agriculture sector in case of damage involves evaluation and approval by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council which takes more than a month.
Mr. Piñol said that the recommended P7.6 billion assistance to the Department of Agriculture (DA) to recover from the damage inflicted by typhoon Ompong has not yet been released by the national government. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio
