(Eagle News) — An interagency task force has been created to monitor the government’s rehabilitation and recovery efforts in areas struck by Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.
The body, to be led by Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco Jr., was created through Administrative Order 5, which President Rodrigo Duterte signed on Aug. 8.
The task force will be co-chaired by Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino and Presidential Assistant for Special Concerns Norberto Gonzales.
Its members are Agriculture Secretary Rafael Mariano, Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno, Education Secretary Leonor Briones, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, Local Government officer-in-charge Undersecretary Catalino Cuy, Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo, and Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez.
Housing czar Eduardo del Rosario; National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council executive director Ricardo Jalad; National Housing Authority general manager Marcelino Escalada; Land Registration Authority Administrator Renato Bermejo; Local Waterworks Utilities Administrator Jeci Lapus; Irrigation administrator Ricardo Visaya; and Philippine Coconut Administrator Romulo dela Rosa are also included.
According to the President, there was a need to establish a “coordinating body” in order to “ensure the efficient and effective coordination between various government agencies and instrumentalities involved in Yolanda recovery and rehabilitation programs and projects” given the delays in the delivery of necessary assistance “due to the lack of coordination…”
He noted that it has been three years since Yolanda wreaked havoc in the Visayas.
According to Duterte, the IATF-Yolanda shall “serve as the overall and central coordination committee of all agencies, bureaus, government-owned and -controlled corporations, and other instrumentalities in relation to the various aspects of implementation and monitoring of the rehabilitation and recovery programs in Yolanda-affected areas.”
“The IATF-Yolanda shall consult affected communities and nongovernment organizations in the crafting, implementation, and evaluation of the various programs and projects covered by the order,” Duterte, through AO 5, said.
He said the task force shall submit reports to him “every month or as often as may be required by him regarding the implementation of the order.”
He said officials of concerned agencies who refuse to comply with the provisions of the order shall face administrative sanctions.