A BILL unanimously approved by the House of Representatives mandates local government chief executives of disaster-struck areas to supervise the distribution of donated relief goods in inaccessible areas.
The measure also provides free freight or transport services for the delivery of the relief goods to cities and municipalities under a state of calamity.
Rep. Luis Raymund Villafuerte of Camarines Sur said the approved House Bill (HB)10924, or the “Free Transportation of Relief Goods Act,” likewise grants tax incentives to private logistics companies such as freight forwarders and carriers for delivering free of charge the relief goods bound for calamity-hit communities.
“This unanimously-approved measure aims to let the government partner with carriers or freight forwarders on the cost-free transport of relief goods to places that have been placed under a state of calamity,” said Villafuerte, the bill’s principal author and president of the National Unity Party (NUP).
“It seeks to enhance the present quick response mechanisms by ensuring the quick delivery of donated relief goods to people in cities and municipalities that have been declared under a state of calamity,” Villafuerte said.
The proposed law also tasks local government unit heads to take charge of delivering such items in the remote or unreachable places in their respective localities.”
By “relief goods,” the bill means food packs and non-food items like clothes, mats, blankets, mosquito nets, kitchen wares, water containers, hygiene kits and medical and health-related products to be given directly to disaster victims.
Villafuerte also quoted Speaker Ferdinand Martin G. Romualdez as saying the bill will remove a critical bottleneck in disaster response by “eliminating transportation costs and streamlining the delivery process, (to) ensure that aid reaches disaster victims when they need it most.”
Villafuerte said under HB 10294, freight companies, common carriers, private carriers, freight forwarders and other firms providing local logistic services shall provide free transport services to duly registered relief organizations in the delivery of emergency relief goods and donated articles to areas under a state of calamity, as declared by the President or by LGUs, through their respective Sanggunian or legislative councils.
The National and Regional Logistics Cluster led by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), in coordination with the Department of Transportation (DOTr) and in partnership with the Philippine Postal Corp., shall oversee such provision of free transport services to calamity-struck areas by private freight companies, common carriers, private carriers, freight forwarders and other businesses that provide logistic services.
“When the area of destination is not accessible, the relief goods shall be delivered and consigned to the local chief executive of the nearest LGU,” according to HB 10294.
