PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte finds it absurd to monitor and call shots for the government’s disaster response if the place where the seat of power is in itself a distressed area.
As such, the President ordered the establishment of an alternate national government center in New Clark City in Tarlac, even as he categorically hinted Metro Manila as prone to natural disasters such as vulnerable to calamities, which include earthquakes, floods and storms.
In issuing Executive Order 119, Duterte directed agencies under the Executive department to set up field offices at the National Government Administrative Center (NGAC) in New Clark City, which will serve as a “back-up administrative hub and may be utilized as disaster recovery center” to ensure continuity of public services.
He likewise tapped the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council as lead agency that would be in charge over the phase-by-phase establishment of field offices at the Clark City in Tarlac.
The President also ordered the Bases Conversion and Development Authority to assist concerned government agencies in securing “advantageous, cost-efficient and flexible” logistical and financial arrangements relative to the establishment of field offices.
Relatedly, the President also encouraged the government-owned or-controlled corporations, judiciary, legislature and the independent constitutional bodies to establish offices at the NGAC.
“The establishment of a back-up government center outside the NCR [National Capital Region] supports the policy of addressing longstanding issues on the lack of sustainable employment opportunities in the countryside, unbalanced regional development, and unequal distribution of wealth,” the EO stated.
Coastal communities, particularly those in the NCR, are vulnerable to subsidence, rising sea levels and increased risk of floods, the President said, adding the region is also exposed to the “threat of a catastrophic earthquake” that may be caused by the movement of the West and East Valley Faults.