Local government units (LGUs) are now empowered to mount disaster risk reduction management (DRRM) initiatives even before forecasted calamities actually strike—and to access LGU funds for such preemptive actions—under a new law that President Marcos has signed authorizing national agencies and LGUs to undertake anticipatory actions to save more lives and mitigate the impact of imminent disasters especially on highly vulnerable communities, according to Camarines Sur Rep. Migz Villafuerte.
This developed as President Marcos signed Republic Act (RA) No. 12287, or the “Declaration of State of Imminent Disaster Act,” enabling the government to declare a “State of Imminent Disaster” before an expected calamity strikes, so that the national government and concerned LGUs can carry out preparatory and emergency measures in advance to protect communities and their residents from expected calamities like typhoons, floods, storm surges, droughts and heat waves.
Migz Villafuerte, a former governor, along with then-Rep. and now CamSur Gov. LRay Villafuerte were among the authors of the House version of RA 12287 in the 19th Congress.
Signed last Sept. 12, RA 12287 empowers the President to declare, through an executive order (EO), a “State of Imminent Disaster” over a cluster of regions, provinces, municipalities, cities and barangays, based on the recommendation by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), Migz Villafuerte said.
“Granting the national government and LGUs the authority to plan and act ahead of forecasted disasters to save more lives and mitigate the adverse effects of these upcoming calamities is of great urgency, given that the Philippines has been the most disaster-prone country in the world for two decades now,” Migz Villafuerte said.
He noted that the Philippines had a risk score of 46.56 in the World Risk Index for 2025—unchanged from 2024 and still ahead of 192 other nations—released by Germany’s Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft and Ruhr University Bochum.
The former governor said that, “Local chief executives, upon the recommendation of the regional or local DRRM Councils, may also declare a ‘State of Imminent Disaster’ through an executive order in their respective areas of jurisdiction that are forecasted to be affected by an upcoming calamity.”
Migz Villafuerte pointed out that undertaking preventive measures such as preemptive evacuation of people in high-risk villages in the face of imminent disasters like typhoons has been a practice in the CamSur provincial government under its “zero casualty” policy.
Such declarations of imminent disaster shall be the go-signal, he said, for the NDRRMC or the regional and local DRRM councils in the to-be-affected LGUs to implement anticipatory actions, including:
· Pre-emptive or forced evacuation of people in high-risk villages, if and when needed;
· Procure, mobilize, strategically preposition and distribute food and non-food items for the people in the would-be affected areas;
· Implement a social amelioration program for the indigent and other most vulnerable members of the affected communities within their respective areas of jurisdiction; and
· Implement contingency plans to mitigate damage to agricultural products and food supply.
To fund the anticipatory actions, Migz Villafuerte said the declaration of imminent disaster shall allow the NDRRMC or regional and local DRRM councils to use national or local resources and mechanisms to implement anticipatory actions against forthcoming calamities within an identified or allowable lead time.
The NDRRMC or regional or local disaster risk councils are tasked to recommend, respectively, to the President and/or LGUs the declaration of imminent disaster after these agencies conduct the pre-disaster risk assessment.
Villafuerte said the importance of this new law to reduce the cost of emergency responses has been underscored by the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) Philippines.
“With the Philippines facing an average of 20 typhoons each year, this legislation represents a pivotal step toward strengthening disaster risk management, particularly for climate-related shocks. Anticipatory Action not only helps to save lives, but it can also significantly reduce the costs of emergency responses,” said WFP Philippines Representative and Country Director Regis Chapman in a report.
In case the latest pre-disaster risk assessment report concludes that the projected impacts have not been met, Villafuerte explained that the law tasks the NDRRMC or regional or local DRRM councils to recommend the immediate lifting of the declaration of imminent disaster by the President or by local chief executives.
For funding of the pre-disaster actions at the local level, Villafuerte said the law tasks the LGUs to include anticipatory action measures in the regular Programs, Plans, and Activities (PPAs) under the Local DRRM Funds of the respective local governments.
As for national government offices, he said they are directed under the law to make sure that the relevant anticipatory actions under their Anticipatory Action Funds are properly included in their respective General Appropriations Act (GAA) budgets.
Migz Villafuerte pointed out that undertaking preventive measures such as preemptive evacuation of people in high-risk villages in the face of imminent disasters like typhoons has been a practice in the CamSur provincial government under its “zero casualty” policy, which has been implemented since House deputy majority leader Luigi Villafuerte was governor and continued by former Rep. and now Gov. LRay Villafuerte.
He said that as a result of this proactive policy, CamSur was, when Luigi Villafuerte was governor, a “Beyond Compliant” (or above the DRRM plans and programs) awardee of Gawad Kalasag in 2024 and “Fully Compliant” awardee in 2022 for DRRM excellence at the provincial LGU level.
Gawad Kalasag (Kalamidad at Sakuna Labanan Sariling Galing ang Kaligtasan) is a special annual award or Seal of Excellence in DRRM and Management and Humanitarian Assistance for the Local DRRM Councils, as organized by the Office of Civil Defense (OCD)–NDRRMC.
As regards the tropical cyclone Opong to hit Bicol and other parts of the country, Gov. LRay Villafuerte issued a memorandum dated Sept. 24 directing all local DRRMCs to implement pre-emptive evacuation in barangays that are “highly” to “very highly” susceptible to flooding and landslides.
Local officials were instructed by Villafuerte in the memo to coordinate with Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Committees (BDRRMCs) to identify at-risk communities and facilitate their swift relocation to designated evacuation centers.
LRay Villafuerte along with Migz Villafuerte, Tsuyoshi Anthony Horibata and the Bicol Saro partylist also co-authored RA 12076, or the “Ligtas Pinoy Centers Act,” that provides for the establishment of safe and fully equipped evacuation centers in every city and municipality all over the country to provide temporary shelter to disaster-stricken people who up to now occupy public schools and other facilities during calamities.
