# Situation: A strong typhoon has caused flooding in a low-lying municipality. The public health nurse of the Rural Health Unit (RHU) is a member of the municipal health emergency response team. The nurse explains the national disaster structure to new volunteers. Under the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 (RA 10121), who chairs the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC)?

> source: MyMerci (mymerci.kr)  
> url: https://mymerci.kr/pages/nclex_q.php?qn_id=627091  
> language: ko  
> subject: Nursing Practice I — Community Health Nursing

## 문제

Situation: A strong typhoon has caused flooding in a low-lying municipality. The public health nurse of the Rural Health Unit (RHU) is a member of the municipal health emergency response team.

The nurse explains the national disaster structure to new volunteers. Under the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010 (RA 10121), who chairs the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC)?

## 보기

1. Secretary of Social Welfare and Development
2. Secretary of National Defense **✔ 정답**
3. Secretary of Health
4. Secretary of the Interior and Local Government

**정답: 2**

## 해설

RA 10121 made the Secretary of National Defense the chair of the NDRRMC, with the Office of Civil Defense as its secretariat and executive arm. The vice-chairs lead the thematic areas: science and technology for prevention and mitigation, interior and local government for preparedness, social welfare for response, and the economic planning agency for rehabilitation and recovery.

## 심화 해설

Disaster governance under RA 10121

The Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010, or RA 10121, reorganized the country’s disaster management framework from a largely reactive, relief-focused system into a proactive, multi-sectoral structure. A central feature of this law is the creation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), which replaced the older National Disaster Coordinating Council. The law explicitly designates the Secretary of National Defense as the Chairperson of the NDRRMC. This is not an arbitrary choice: defense agencies possess command-and-control capacity, logistics assets, and rapid mobilization infrastructure that are critical during large-scale emergencies such as typhoons, floods, and earthquakes. The Office of Civil Defense serves as the NDRRMC’s secretariat and executive arm, translating policy decisions into operational directives.

The vice-chair structure reflects the four thematic pillars of disaster risk reduction and management. The Department of Science and Technology leads prevention and mitigation, the Department of the Interior and Local Government leads preparedness, the Department of Social Welfare and Development leads response, and the National Economic and Development Authority leads rehabilitation and recovery. The Secretary of Health is not the NDRRMC chair; health is a sectoral member that supports response, but overall council leadership rests with national defense.

| Role | Agency or Office | Primary function |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Chairperson | Secretary of National Defense | Overall leadership and policy direction of the NDRRMC |
| Secretariat and executive arm | Office of Civil Defense | Coordination, implementation, and operational support |
| Vice-chair for prevention and mitigation | Department of Science and Technology | Hazard and risk assessment, early warning systems |
| Vice-chair for preparedness | Department of the Interior and Local Government | Local government capacity building, planning, drills |
| Vice-chair for response | Department of Social Welfare and Development | Relief operations, evacuation support, psychosocial services |
| Vice-chair for rehabilitation and recovery | National Economic and Development Authority | Post-disaster reconstruction and economic recovery planning |

In the scenario, the public health nurse is part of the municipal health emergency response team during a typhoon and flood event. Understanding the national structure matters because local actions are nested within a larger command hierarchy. The nurse’s role at the Rural Health Unit includes health assessment, disease surveillance, and coordination with the municipal disaster risk reduction and management office. However, when volunteers ask who chairs the NDRRMC, the correct answer is the Secretary of National Defense. The Secretary of Social Welfare and Development is a vice-chair for response, not the chair; the Secretary of the Interior and Local Government is a vice-chair for preparedness; and the Secretary of Health is a member agency, not the council chair.

Key point! RA 10121 shifted the leadership of national disaster management to the defense sector because disaster response requires unified command and rapid deployment capability. Watch out! Do not confuse the NDRRMC chair with the vice-chair for response. Social welfare leads response operations, but the council itself is chaired by national defense. This distinction is frequently tested in licensure examinations because it reflects the law’s deliberate separation of overall command from sector-specific functions.

The provided evidence base does not directly discuss the Philippine NDRRMC structure, as the cited abstracts focus on local government response capacity during COVID-19, care economy inequities, fiscal institutions, and global demographic estimates. However, the general principle that local governments form the first line of defense while national structures provide coordination and resource support is consistent with the layered design of RA 10121. In the Philippine system, the municipal health emergency response team operates under the local disaster risk reduction and management council, which in turn coordinates with provincial, regional, and national levels. The NDRRMC, chaired by the Secretary of National Defense, sits at the apex of this coordination chain.

## 임상 시나리오

NDRRMC Leadership Under RA 10121National Disaster Governance Structure
The Secretary of National Defense chairs the NDRRMC, with the Office of Civil Defense as its secretariat and executive arm.

Vice-chairs lead the four thematic areas: DOST for prevention and mitigation, DILG for preparedness, DSWD for response, and NEDA for rehabilitation and recovery.

CautionDo not confuse the Department of Health as the lead agency; health is a sectoral member supporting response, not the council chair.

## 핵심 개념

- **NDRRMC** — National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council; the highest policy-making body for disasters in the Philippines under RA 10121.
- **RA 10121** — Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010; shifted disaster management from reactive relief to proactive risk reduction.
- **Office of Civil Defense** — Serves as the secretariat and executive arm of the NDRRMC, translating policy into operational directives.
- **Thematic Areas** — Four pillars of DRRM: prevention and mitigation, preparedness, response, and rehabilitation and recovery.

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