Duterte forms program management office for quake resiliency in Greater Metro Manila

May 10, 2018

President Rodrigo Duterte has created a program management office for earthquake resiliency of the Greater Metro Manila Area.

Executive Order No. 52, which Duterte signed on May 8, provides that the PMO-ERG ( Program Management Office for Earthquake Resiliency of the Greater Metro Manila Area) under the Office of the President shall spearhead the immediate operationalization of the "Two-Pronged Strategy Towards an Earthquake-Resilient GMMA.

It is also tasked to integrate all government efforts to enhance the resiliency of the GMMA against earthquakes, fill existing bureaucratic gaps and build on existing resiliency plans and programs.

PMO-ERG shall undertake all action to fast-track implementation of urgently-needed interventions, including the action points contained in the Metro Manila Earthquake Impact Reduction Study and the "Key Result Areas in the Earthquake Resiliency GMMA."

It shall also collaborate closely with relevant government agencies, local government units, private sector, civil society, and the communities themselves in undertaking its mandates.

The PMO-ERG shall be headed by an executive director with the rank of an undersecretary.

"All concerned government agencies are mandated to take proactive steps to guarantee the resiliency of all public infrastructures in the GMMA," the EO read.

The EO shall take effect immediately. The PMO-ERG shall exist until a law creating a permanent office is passed by Congress or unless the same is dissolved by the president. Celerina Monte/DMS