Disaster officials urged to study best practices of US FEMA

• Published date: 22 November 2022
• Publication title: Philippines News agency

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. on Tuesday called on Philippine disaster officials to study the 'best practices' of the United States Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as part of efforts to make the government more responsive to people's needs in the immediate aftermath of disasters.

FEMA, an agency under the Department of Homeland Security, primarily coordinates the response to a disaster that has occurred in the US.

Marcos said using FEMA as a model would help prevent red tape and other delays in government disaster responses in the Philippines.

'So that kind of authority…basta't pag (as long as there is a) disaster, within a day or two, hopefully within a day, pasok na sila (they're there) and they'll see what's going on and then report back to us and start with the assessment,' Marcos said in a meeting with disaster officials at Malacañan Palace.

'And pagka they assess (After they assess) on the ground, they can already start calling the other agencies...'Yun lang habol ko eh. 'Yung mabilis, para mas mabilis (That's what I'm after. We need it done quickly)," he added.

Rather than going through a tedious bureaucratic process, Marcos said he wanted disaster agencies to have the power to facilitate the immediate release of government funds after immediate assessment and release of a report.

'And then, they will come up with report, sasabihin DSWD [Department of Social Welfare and Development] 'we need this'… and then they will have the power…Under the OP [Office of...