MIRIAM: SPECIAL ONDOY/PEPENG COMMISSION
NOT A GOOD IDEA; GMA SHOULD NOT CREATE AD HOC BODY
THAT TRANSCENDS HER TENURE

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago today said there was no need for a separate special commission to administer and monitor rehabilitation efforts in the wake of the destruction brought about by Storm Ondoy and Pepeng.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda earlier proposed that the government lobby for at least $1 billion in foreign grants and concessional loans to be administered by a special reconstruction commission composed of the government, the Church, big business, and civil society.

"President Arroyo should not create ad hoc bodies that would transcend the end of her tenure in 2010," the senator explained.

According to Santiago, rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts after Ondoy and Pepeng will likely continue after President Arroyo's term and well into the term of the next president. The next president may just as likely dissolve any ad hoc special commission created by his or her predecessor and create another one.

"A disaster preparedness and relief agency created by law is better suited to undertake rehabilitation efforts," she said.

In September 2009, the Senate passed the Philippine Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Act, which seeks to lay down the groundwork for a more responsive and effective disaster monitoring, coordination, and response program at all levels of government. The House of Representatives has yet to approve this measure.

Santiago also said that membership of a religious leader in the special commission should be discouraged in keeping with the Constitutional principle of separation of church and state.

She also said that lobbying for $1 billion foreign aid may be too ambitious in an environment where calamities have sprung up all over Asia. Indonesia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Samoa have experienced natural calamities recently.

"Foreign donors have to spread their aid all over Asia. We cannot presume that we will get a big chunk of it," she said.