CAMARINES Sur 3rd District Representative Gabriel Bordado Jr. filed a measure that seeks to integrate lessons on disaster preparedness and fire drills in the curriculum of formal education.

In his House Bill 6533 or the proposed Disaster Preparedness Mitigation and Fire Drills Education Act of 2022, Bordado said that annually natural disasters, accidents and fires lead to millions of destroyed property and infrastructure, loss of livelihood and income and, worst of all, loss of life.

He cited the Philippine Statistics Authority’s data which showed that the Philippines incurred damages amounting to P463 billion due to natural extreme events and disasters from 2010 to 2019.

Based also on the information, incidents have increased by almost 13 percent in the first quarter of 2022 alone.

“Unfortunately, these events cannot be completely avoided. We can, at the very least, mitigate the damages caused by such events through improving disaster preparedness and response programs and continued efforts to raise awareness and educated the citizenry,” Bordado said in his explanatory note.

The measure mandates the Department of Education, Commission on Higher Education and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority to include in the appropriate subjects of the curriculum lessons on disaster mitigation preparedness and fire drills.

The agencies are also mandated to formulate the implementing rules and regulations.