Title
Creation of Earthquake Resiliency Office
Law
Executive Order No. 52
Decision Date
May 8, 2018
The Philippine Government issues an executive order to create a Program Management Office for Earthquake Resiliency in the Greater Metro Manila Area, aiming to strengthen the region's ability to withstand potential catastrophic earthquakes and bridge bureaucratic gaps in current resiliency plans and programs. The office will spearhead the implementation of a two-pronged strategy, focusing on immediate and long-term measures to reduce risks and vulnerabilities of communities and critical infrastructures.
program management office
earthquake resiliency
executive order

Policy, constitutional basis, and purpose

  • The Government is committed to strengthen the country’s resilience against earthquakes to ensure public safety, government and business continuity, and national security.
  • The Valley Fault System, consisting of the West and East Valley Faults, is treated as a tremendous threat of a potentially catastrophic earthquake affecting Metro Manila and nearby provinces, including Pampanga, Bataan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac, Batangas, and Quezon, among others, collectively called the Greater Metro Manila Area (GMMA).
  • Addressing the threat requires moving beyond “business-as-usual” structures through a dedicated office focused on full-time, sustained, and integrated earthquake resiliency efforts for the GMMA.
  • Section 17, Article VII of the 1987 Constitution is invoked to support presidential control over executive departments, bureaus, and offices.

Program Management Office (PMO-ERG) mandate

  • Section 1 creates the Program Management Office for Earthquake Resiliency of the GMMA (PMO-ERG) under the Office of the President (OP).
  • The PMO-ERG spearheads the immediate operationalization of the “Two-Pronged Strategy Towards an Earthquake Resilient GMMA” (Annex A).
  • The PMO-ERG integrates government efforts to enhance GMMA earthquake resiliency by filling bureaucratic gaps and building on existing resiliency plans and programs.
  • The PMO-ERG fast-tracks urgently needed interventions, including action points in the Metro Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study (MMEIRS) and the “Key Result Areas in the Earthquake Resiliency of GMMA” (Annex B).
  • The PMO-ERG closely collaborates with relevant government agencies, LGUs, the private sector, civil society, and communities to carry out its mandates.

Scope, coverage, and key relationships

  • The PMO-ERG covers earthquake preparedness, mitigation, and resiliency measures for the GMMA during the pre-disaster phase (Section 3(b)).
  • The NDRRMC-OCD continues to be responsible for disaster response during and post-earthquake scenarios in the GMMA (Section 3(b)).
  • The PMO-ERG integrates resilience programs, projects, and activities (RPPAs) for GMMA with the DRRM policies of the NDRRMC, in coordination with the OCD, and integrates the operationalization of these RPPAs in collaboration with the CCAM-DRR Cabinet Cluster (Section 3(b)).
  • The PMO-ERG assists the NDRRMC Chairperson in effective and responsive implementation of RPPAs during the post-earthquake scenario (Section 3(b)).
  • Key agencies required to actively collaborate and seek guidance/inputs from the PMO-ERG include LDRRMCs, NDRRMC-OCD Regional Offices for NCR, Regions III and IV-A, and the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) (Section 3(c)).
  • Section 3(c) mandates PMO-ERG, NDRRMC-OCD, MMDA, key agencies, and LDRRMCs to ensure seamless operations, systems, protocols, and procedures related to GMMA earthquake preparedness and resiliency.

Core functions and implementation duties

  • The PMO-ERG is designated as the primary body for spearheading, orchestrating, and integrating all efforts to enhance GMMA resiliency in preparation for major earthquakes (Section 2).
  • The PMO-ERG formulates and operationalizes the GMMA Resiliency Plan, including the overall government service continuity plan, aligned with the MMEIRS and the Guide to Earthquake Resiliency of GMMA (Section 2(a)).
  • The PMO-ERG ensures availability and adequacy of key lifelines mobilizable immediately after a major earthquake (Section 2(b)), including:
    • Basic needs and utilities (water, food, shelter, electric supply, and medical services) that must be pre-positioned adequately and strategically in every community and/or LGU (Section 2(b)(1)).
    • Effective response mechanisms (command control and communications, search, rescue and management of dead bodies, fire protection, law and order, transport and mobility) provided by well-trained personnel with necessary competencies, resources, and technologies (Section 2(b)(2)).
  • The PMO-ERG may use existing government facilities such as the Office of Civil Defense’s (OCD) 24/7 Operations Center and other command and operations centers already existing or available (Section 2(b)(2)).
  • The PMO-ERG facilitates structural assessment and retrofitting of buildings and other structures with close coordination with the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and monitors/enhances earthquake resiliency measures, including enforcement of zoning ordinances and adoption of resilient building and construction standards (Section 2(c)).
  • The PMO-ERG reviews, audits, monitors, and provides feedback on implementation of earthquake resiliency plans and investment programs of government agencies, LGUs, and the private sector (Section 2(d)).
  • The PMO-ERG mobilizes Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Councils (LDRRMCs) to achieve effective synergy in implementing earthquake-resiliency interventions (Section 2(e)).
  • The PMO-ERG facilitates advocacy and communication programs, drills, and exercises promoting preparedness and resiliency at the household and community levels (Section 2(f)).
  • The PMO-ERG performs other responsibilities assigned by the Chair of the Climate Change Adaptation and Mitigation and Disaster Risk Reduction (CCAM-DRR) Cabinet Cluster and/or the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Chairperson in accordance with their mandates (Section 2(g)).
  • All government departments, agencies, and instrumentalities must provide necessary support to the PMO-ERG to accomplish its mandates and functions (Section 2).

Operational control, reporting lines, and mechanism

  • The PMO-ERG operates under the operational control of the President through the CCAM-DRR Cabinet Cluster (Section 3(a)).
  • The PMO-ERG reports to the President through the CCAM-DRR Cabinet Cluster Chair (Section 3(a)).
  • The PMO-ERG submits periodic reports on its operations and accomplishments to the CCAM-DRR Cabinet Cluster Chair, with a copy furnished to the NDRRMC (Section 6).
  • A flowchart/workflow summarizing the operational mechanism is provided in Annex C (Section 3(c)).

Organizational structure and staffing directive

  • The PMO-ERG is headed by an Executive Director with the rank and emoluments of an Undersecretary (Section 4).
  • The Executive Director is assisted by a Deputy Executive Director with the rank and emoluments of an Assistant Secretary (Section 4).
  • The Executive Director must craft and submit to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) a proposed organizational and staffing pattern for hiring experts in disaster preparedness and management and other highly specialized skills, plus other personnel needed to carry out the PMO-ERG mandate (Section 4).
  • The DBM must prioritize and facilitate the urgent establishment of the PMO-ERG (Section 4).

Earthquake-resilient infrastructure obligations

  • Concerned government agencies must take proactive steps to guarantee the resiliency of all public infrastructures in the GMMA, including roads, bridges, buildings, hospitals, ports, and airports (Section 5).
  • All LGUs in the GMMA must ensure the resiliency of private infrastructure and ensure private entities comply with the National Building Code of the Philippines (Section 5).
  • Agencies and private entities are encouraged to go beyond the minimum standards of the Building Code to ensure future infrastructures are fully earthquake resilient and compliant with international earthquake-resistant designs and standards (Section 5).

Funding, separability, and repeal

  • Operational funds for the PMO-ERG come from the existing budget of the OP and other funding sources determined by the DBM, subject to usual government accounting and auditing laws, rules, and regulations (Section 7).
  • Appropriations for succeeding years must be incorporated in the regular budget of the OP (Section 7).
  • If any provision is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other provisions remain valid and subsisting (Section 8).
  • All issuances, orders, rules and regulations, or parts inconsistent with the Executive Order are repealed or modified accordingly (Section 9).

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