SENATOR Miriam Defensor Santiago has filed a bill seeking to reduce the number of years before a person who has been missing may be presumed dead.
Santiago said Senate Bill 2703 aims to amend Article 391 of Republic Act 386 or the Civil Code of the Philippines.
Under Article 391, the following persons who are missing for four years shall be presumed dead: a person on board a vessel lost during a sea voyage or a missing airplane, a person in the armed forces who has taken part in war, and a person who has been in danger of death under other circumstances.
While the Philippines is a disaster-prone country, Santiago said Article 391 of the Civil Code does not specifically include a person missing due to natural disasters or calamities.
“Although a person missing due to natural disasters or calamities may fall under Article 391, paragraph 3, four years is still a long time. The waiting period unnecessarily aggravates the grief of the relatives of the missing victims and it also prolongs their agony,” she said.
The proposed measure seeks to insert paragraph 4 under the Civil Code, Article 391, which provides that a person who has been missing for two years due to natural disasters or calamities like typhoon, volcanic eruption, tsunami, storm surge, earthquake, tornado, landslide and flood may be presumed dead.
The Philippines is the third most disaster-prone country in the world because of its high exposure to natural calamities, according to the 2012 World Disaster Report.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said Tropical Storm Sendong left around 1,257 dead, 6,071 injured, and 182 missing across 13 provinces in 2011.
Typhoon Pablo hit Mindanao in 2012, claiming the lives of 1,067 people, injuring 2,666 others, while 834 people went missing in 34 provinces, it added.
In 2013, the NDRRMC said super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) killed at least 6,201 people and left more than 28,000 injured. (Sunnex)