ORANI, Bataan – Bataan First District Representative Geraldine B. Roman was recently elected as the Committee Chair of the Committee on Disaster Management of the House of Representatives.
The new committee was created by Congress as part of the reorganization under the new leadership. Congresswoman Roman was immediately installed to head the Committee.
The 25-member Disaster Management Committee, now chaired by Congreswoman Roman, will be mandated with all matters relating to natural and man-made calamities, including risk reduction, disaster preparedness, and recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts.
The initial members of the 25-member Committee are Cong. Leopoldo Bataoil, Cong. Cheryl Deloso Montalla and Cong. Jonathan Sy-Alvarado.
Last month, House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo created this new committee in the House of Representatives to tackle disaster preparedness and resiliency in every district in the country.
In her statement, Speaker Arroyo said this was in line with President Duterte’s call to create a Disaster Management Department.
During Duterte’s third State of the Nation Address last July 23, he urged Congress to pass a bill creating a Department of Disaster Management to “bolster our resilience to the impact of natural disasters and climate change.”
Meanwhile, the House committees on government reorganization and national defense and security have already jointly approved the substitute bill creating the Department of Disaster Resilience.