President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed Executive Order 32 expanding the membership of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

The EO formally included the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to the NDRRMC, which, in effect, filled the void left by the restructured Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC).

The DOTC was renamed DOTr last year upon the signing of Republic Act No. 10844, while all its operating units dealing with communications was transferred to the created DICT.

“The DOTr is responsible for the maintenance and expansion of viable, efficient, and dependable transportation systems during rescue and relief operations,” the EO stated.

Meanwhile, the DICT, the EO added, “is responsible for the planning, development, and promotion of the country’s information and communications agenda in support of national development, and is indispensable in cascading timely, accurate, and reliable information in times of emergency and disaster.”

Both government agencies “play important roles in providing life preservation systems based on acceptable standards, during or immediately after a disaster,” the EO said.

The NDRRMC, headed by the Secretary of National Defense, is mandated to develop a framework that will provide a comprehensive approach to disaster risk reduction and management.

It also advises the President on the status of national disaster preparedness and management plans, and the release of the national calamity fund as well as recommends the declaration of state of calamity. ###PCO-Content