Sen. Go Support Sought! COMMISSION ON EMERGING RISKS, DISEASES PROPOSED IN SENATE

COMMISSION ON EMERGING RISKS,

DISEASES PROPOSED IN SENATE

On the Second Day of the hearing of the Senate Committee of the Whole on the Food Security Risks Due to the African Swine Fever yesterday, I proposed the establishment by legislation of a National Commission on Emerging Risks and Diseases.

The scientific body to be composed of experts will be in-charged of monitoring emerging human diseases, especially viral diseases, and threats to the country’s plant and livestock industries.

At the end of the hearing, I forwarded a Memorandum to President Rody Duterte through Senator Christopher Lawrence Go, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, formalizing the recommendation.

Here is the text of that recommendation:

SUBJECT : PROPOSAL TO CREATE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON EMERGINg RISKS TO MONITOR, PREPARE AND HANDLE RISKS THAT THREATEN HUMAN, ANIMAL AND PLANT HEALTH

DATE : 15 APRIL 2021

1. This is to respectfully submit to the Office of the President through the Office of Senator Christopher Lawrence Go the proposal to create a scientific body to monitor, prepare, and handle the emerging risks on the human, plant, and animal health;

2. The proposed National Commission on Emerging Risks is a necessity given the country’s experience with the COVID-19 pandemic and animal and plant diseases like the Avian Flu, the African Swine Fever (ASF), and the Panama disease, which caused enormous problems and the difficulty experienced by the whole nation;

3. The Commission on Emerging Risks will be composed of scientists and experts who will help the country’s leaders, especially the President, in the decision-making, crafting of measures, and establishing mechanisms to protect the citizens and the country’s sectors, including agriculture and fisheries sectors;

4. The Commission will also focus on researches and studies to address the problems of vaccine development using local viral strains and remedies for diseases;

5. The creation of the National Commission on Emerging Risks will address the poor and slow response of the bureaucracy in the face of the fast-mutating and quick-spreading viruses averting the collapse of the economy and ensuring of an effective management of the pandemic;

6. For the President’s consideration.

#FailingToPrepareIsPreparingToFail!

#GovernanceIsCommonSense!

(This slide presentation was prepared by Mayette Tudlas, MinDA OC and the MinDA Media Team.)