Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Monday disclosed that the creation of a disaster resilience agency is possible before Christmas following three major earthquakes that rocked Mindanao last month which saw at least 29 dead.

The Senate President noted that the bill seeking to create the Department of Disaster Management would institutionalize the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), which is currently under the defense department.

“There is a very big chance that this bill will be signed by the President,” said Sotto when asked if the passage of the measure is possible before Congress adjourns before Christmas.

Sotto added that the agency would coordinate local and national officials to have a “unity of command and effective collaboration.”

Aftershocks may continue to rattle Mindanao until December, state seismologists earlier said. Some local governments have declared a state of calamity to tap emergency funds.

President Rodrigo Duterte himself proposed the creation of such agency in his third State of the Nation Address last year, citing the need to focus on risk reduction in times of natural hazards and disasters using a science-based approach.