MANILA -- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. believes putting the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) under the Office of the President would streamline disaster response efforts.

The President made this remark Tuesday during his visit to Tacloban City for the 9th anniversary of Super Typhoon “Yolanda,” where he stressed the need to bolster disaster response initiatives and rehabilitation projects in response to the destruction wrought by recent typhoons.

“We will put the national disaster response team under the Office of the President. And I think that we are headed in that direction because of the weather that we are suffering now from the effects of climate change,” Marcos said.

“I think that overall, we can say that the disaster response has been a good one. However, I believe that there are ways that we can make it even more streamlined,” the President pointed out.

As typhoons become much stronger and calamities more destructive, pursuing much-needed reforms to make the country more proactive and responsive to disasters become more imperative, Marcos said, stressing the current task is to ensure that those reforms will come into fruition during his term.

The chief executive assured the people of Tacloban that the government would continue to prioritize its recovery, especially the completion of the resettlement of the displaced families and the provision of support to affected businesses.

Since 2013, the government has been implementing the Yolanda Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan and providing affected families with food assistance, cash-for-work programs, and Emergency Shelter Assistance.

Super Typhoon Yolanda, which hit the country on November 8, 2013, claimed more than 6,300 lives, injured more than 30,000 people, and affected more than 3 million families.

Considered one of the most powerful and strongest tropical cyclones ever recorded, it destroyed more than 1.1 million homes and properties and registered P90 billion in damages.

The President earlier led the distribution of various government assistance to families affected by Tropical Storm ‘Paeng’ in Antique, pledging to rehabilitate the province’s damaged infrastructure for immediate normalization.

The chief executive also held a situation briefing with selected regional line agency directors and local chief executives of Antique to assess the extent of damages caused by ‘Paeng’ and address pressing concerns in the Western Visayas Region. (PND)