Duterte bats for dept of disaster management

MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday urged Congress to immediately pass a law that will create a Department of Disaster Management. 

In his third State of the Nation Address, Duterte said he envisions the proposed department to focus on risk reduction in times of natural hazards and disasters using a science-based approach. 

"We need a truly empowered department characterized by a unity of command, science-based approach, and full-time focus on natural hazards and disasters," he said. 

"We in the Cabinet have approved for immediate endorsement to Congress the passage of a law creating the Department of Disaster Management, an inter-agency," he added.

The President likened the proposed department to the United States' Federal Emergency Management Agency which is tasked to coordinate the responses to disaster situations. 

Duterte said the government has learned lessons on disaster response when Super-typhoon "Yolanda" in 2013, which killed thousands of people in the Visayas region.