THE PHILIPPINE STAR
l1 THE PHILIPPINE STAR
House to hold session in Batangas City
By DELON PORCALLA
The House of Reprcsentatives approved yes-
terd a v a p roposal of Spea-kcr Alan Peter Cdyeiano
to hoid their session tomorrow in Batangas City.
"Basically, what we wanl to achieve is that
Congrcss' nitun: is not reactionary' We want to
show tlrat from the very start this institution
has b('cr)me lhe'House;f the People'or Hope.
So. wc want the people to know that we are
dependable, thal'we will try to be a reliable,
responsive and relevant Congress," Cayetdno
qaid after 232 members of the 300-member
chamber voted in favor of his proposal.
T ht' session - to be held at the Batangas City
Conv('nti('n C('ntcr - wi ll tackle disaster-related
bills, inclrrding thc creation of Lhe DePartment
of Disastcr l{esilience (DDR).
"What *e envision is that our help or assis-
tance should become institutional an! should
be Dermanent because we are no-t here all lhe
time. We want to have a Permanenl mechanism
that will be put into plaie every time we have
disastt'rs," (.ryelano sajd,
Maioritv Ltirder Martin Romualdez said the
House leahership would expedite the passage
of tht. DDR bilt, amonq trthers, in the wake of
the Taal Volcano eruplion that has displaced
thousands of victims.
Other priority bills in the pipeline include the
creation of the Department of Filipinos Over-
seas and the Department of Water Resources,
which are expected to be passed before Con-
gress adjourns in March.
Deputy Speaker LRay Villafuerte also em-
phasized the need for "permanent evacuation
ienters" in all local govemment units (LCUs) in
the country as he dlscouraged the use of public
schools and covered courfs or gymnasiums as
Lemoorarv shellers when disaster strikes.
5i'nate'Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri
said the creation of DDR would ensure a more
efficienf coordinated and complete system of
disaster management during calamity situa-
tions, like the Taal eruption.
"Bv havins this Department of Disaster Re-
siliente, our ieopte #ill eosily know where to
go in times oi calamities and whjch agenry is
iesponsible for providing assistance and guid-
ance to them," he said jn his privilege speech
during the resumption of session ydsterday.-
The DDR,'thehe added, would lake on the
functions of Office of Civil Ddense, Cli-
mate Change Office ot the C)imaie Change
Commissio-n, Geo-Hazard Assessment and
Engineering Ceology Section of the Mines and
Ceosciencei Bureau, Heallh Emergency Man-
agement Bureau of the Department of Health,
Disasler Response AssisLance ard Management
u of the Departme n t o{ Social Welfare and
B u rea
l)evelooment. Bureau of Fire Protection and the
Prograir Management Office for Earthquake
Resiliencv of the Creater Metro Manila Area.
Under' his proposal, the Philippine Atmo-
soheric, Ceoohvsical and Astronomical Services
Ad-i.tittruiloi und the l-lhilippine lnstitute of cooked properly.
Volcanology and Seismology will also be at-
tached to the agency.
P3.21$B dama$e to aElriculture those that ie deari already, do not eat them for
The National Disaster Risk Reduction Man- food safety reasons," Dar said.
\\ P4ge - e'l
TUESDAY I JANUARY 2I,2O2O I news
Fishers around Taal Lake said the recent
agement Council (NDRRMC) reported yester-
d"ay that Tahl Volcano's damage to agriculture findings would help allay fears of fellow fish-
in [he provinces of Batangas, Laguna and Cavite erfolk, evacuees around Taal and consumers
has reiched P3.21 5 billion in iust a week. from Metro Manila.
Hish-value crops like coffee are the most l'he Taal Lake Aquaculture Alliance Inc. (TL-
affec6d at P1.394 6illion while fisheries losses LAI), composed of ;lmost t'.000 tish cage own-
ballooned to P1.6 billion. Damage to livestock ers, also appealed to aulhorities, parl.icularly
was atP126.3 million, com at P88.9 million and disaster coordinaling agencies, to allow ticm
rice at P5.6 million. to harvest the huge vbluhe of fish thatremains
The NDRRMC also said that as of yesterday, in floatins caees icattered throuP.hout the lake
the official tally of the riumber of evacuees is at BFAR Eata"showed there are'over 6,000 fish
112,7 57 p ersois representing 29,424 f arnilies in cages with 15,000 metric lons of fish each that
416 different evacuation centers. are threatened by Taal's eruPtion.
Taal Volcano, though showing less smoke "Aside from being our main source of liveli-
in the last few days, rimains at Alert Level 4 hoo4 the fish feeds"our families and is a rich
considering the numerous earthquakes that source of protein for thousands ofFilipinos. We
continue td shake Batangas and neighboring hawest an estimated 300 MT of fish from our
orovinces.
' Meanwhile, the Department of Agriculture
maintained that fish in Taal Lake remain safe
for human consumPtion for as long as these
are causht alive. feed thousands of evacu-
Agriiulture Secretary William Dar said the ees scattered throughout
Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Batangas," TLLAI said in
conducted laboratory analyses for .water and a statement,
fish samples in Taal Lake. The group noted they
These revealed that the consumption of fish are ready and willing
from the lake is saJe for as lonq as these are to coordinate with ap-
fresh ar.rd caught alive. The fish m-ust be washed propriate government
thoroughly, ils internal organs removed and agencies for orderly and
- With
safe harvesting.
"The BFAR advis('rv indicates that ves [it is Cecille Suerte Felipe,
safel as lone as tilapia ii still fresh and al ive. But Michael Punongbayan,
Louise Maureen Sime-
on" Elizabeth Marcelo