President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has signed Republic Act No. 12287, or the Declaration of State of Imminent Disaster Act, which lets the government declare a “State of Imminent Disaster” before a calamity hits.
The law, signed on September 12, allows the President or local chief executives, upon the recommendation of disaster councils, to issue the declaration based on pre-disaster risk assessments of highly probable hazards with catastrophic impacts.
This anticipatory measure must have at least a three-day lead time, extendable to five days.
Once declared, national and local governments can use disaster funds and resources to take pre-emptive actions such as:
- issuing public advisories
- mobilizing response teams and volunteers
- pre-positioning relief goods
- enforcing pre-emptive evacuation
- protecting agriculture and food supply, and
- providing social aid to vulnerable groups.
The state of imminent disaster will be lifted once updated assessments show projected impacts are no longer likely.
The law also tasks the NDRRMC to issue implementing rules within 60 days for its effective rollout.IMT
