President Aquino calls on nations to work
together in tackling effects of climate change
President Benigno S. Aquino III on Thursday
encouraged the participants of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Manila Conference
on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management to continue working together to
address the concerns posed by climate change.
Citing the country's experience on the
devastation brought about by Typhoon Yolanda last year, President Aquino said
in a speech during the conference that overcoming the challenges posed by
climate risk is enormous and requires cooperation at all levels.
Citizens, local governments, and nations must
work together to address this problem, he said, noting the importance of the
disaster risk reduction meeting being held in Manila.
Countries must take advantage of every
opportunity to share their experiences, ideas, and technologies, the value of
which is not measured by any form of currency but by the number of lives saved,
the President said.
"This is why I encourage all of you:
Please, let us continue working together through forums such as this one, and
let us deepen our cooperation to give rise to a world that is safer and more
resilient," he said.
"This is our only planet, and it is our
duty as its citizens to do everything in our power, not just to protect it, but
to improve it and make it better than it ever has been."
The increasing number of typhoons and their
devastating effects are becoming the norm today as a result of climate change,
he said.
He further said that despite the magnitude of
the effects of Typhoon Yolanda in the Visayan region, the Philippine government
has received praises from international organizations.
For instance, World Bank Country Director for
the Philippines Motoo Konishi said the Philippines' response to the disaster
has “set a new standard on how to shrink the time between the disaster hitting,
relief work being carried out, moving on to early recovery, and then to
reconstruction,” he said.
President Aquino said his government has been
harnessing the best technology, knowledge and inputs from other countries and
organizations to rebuild better communities in the Visayan region. PND (as)
President Aquino meets with European Union
Commissioner for International Cooperation
President Benigno S. Aquino III met with
European Union (EU) Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian
Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva during a courtesy call at the
South Ballroom of Diamond Hotel in Manila on Thursday.
The meeting occurred right before the opening
plenary of the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Manila Conference on Disaster Risk
Reduction Management, which the Philippines is hosting with the EU, Japan, and
Switzerland as co-hosts.
President Aquino and the EU Commissioner shook
hands and engaged in a brief yet fruitful discussion about disaster
preparation, sharing their experiences when they each visited the province of
Leyte in the aftermath of Super Typhoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan).
President Aquino mentioned some of the progress
made by the national government in rebuilding the calamity-stricken
communities, especially in areas that need particular improvements.
Commissioner Georgieva, for her part, suggested
possible ways on how the EU and other developed nations could further work
together with the Philippines to help address the increasing challenges of
climate change to prevent the destruction caused by super typhoons from
happening again.
She also recounted her experiences in Haiti
following the 7.0-magnitude earthquake in 2010 and shared with the President
some anecdotes regarding her recent trip to Tacloban City, taking note of the
improvements made six months after the tragedy.
Georgieva said that despite the events that
happened in the country, President Aquino is "very lucky" because the
Philippines is rich with "talented people," particularly its children
who are "smart."
President Aquino thanked the EU Commissioner for
her positive thoughts about the Philippines and its people, and for her
organization’s continuing assistance to the national government in its
rehabilitation efforts.
He was joined by Foreign Affairs Secretary
Albert del Rosario, National Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Communications
Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. and Secretary Julia Abad of the Presidential
Management Staff during the meeting.
The 60-year old Georgieva, a Bulgarian national,
has been serving the EU as its Commissioner for International Cooperation,
Humanitarian Aid, and Crisis Response since February 2010 after her stint as
Vice President and Corporate Secretary for the World Bank Group.
With the theme "Post-Haiyan (Yolanda)--A
Way Forward", this year's ASEM Manila Conference on Disaster Risk
Reduction and Management aims to build a stronger Asia-Europe partnership to
meet the challenges of future mega disasters, such as Typhoon Yolanda, which
barreled through Southern Luzon and Visayas in November 2013.PND (hdc)
Government again bothered by movement of Chinese
ships in West Philippine Sea
President Benigno S. Aqunio III said Thursday
his government is again bothered by the movement of Chinese ships in other
areas of the disputed West Philippine Sea (South China Sea).
“We are again bothered that there seems to be
developments in other areas within the disputed seas,” the President said
during an interview with reporters after his speech at the Asia Europe Meeting
(ASEM) Manila Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management at the
Diamond Hotel.
“Among them, parang may movement ng ships in
Gavin Reef and Cuateron (Calderon ) Reef,” he said, citing the latest report he
has received.
“Yung pictures that I saw were just ships that
can be used for reclamation. Pictures pa lang, unlike Mabini na talagang from
nothing nagkaroon na ng geographical feature,” he said.
In mid-May, the Department of Defense confirmed
that China was doing extensive reclamation work at the Mabini Reef, which is
part of the Kalayaan Island Group in Philippine territory.
Last March 30, the Philippines filed a memorial
at the International Tribunal of the Laws of the Sea (ITLOS) against China.
The International Arbitral Tribunal on June 4
gave China until December 15 of this year to comment on the case filed by the
Philippines.
President Aquino said he is hopeful that the
ITLOS will once and for all put an end to the dispute in the West Philippine
Sea and resolve the matter peacefully.
“So, at the very least, ang makukuha natin diyan
if they rule in our favor na tama ‘yung ating mga claims, then
magkakaliwanagan: Ano ba talaga ang karapatan ng bawat isang estado at ano ang
mga tungkulin ng bawat isa,” President Aquino explained. PND (ag)
President Aquino shares lessons learned from
disasters
President Benigno S. Aquino III on Thursday
shared some of the lessons the country has learned from the natural calamities
that have struck the nation.
Speaking before participants of the Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM) Manila Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management,
President Aquino said the government has taken a proactive approach to reduce
the risks posed by natural calamities.
He said an average of 20 storms hit the country
every year. “But more recently, we have noticed that these storms have not only
become more powerful; they have also begun shifting tracks, hitting areas that
are not normally frequented by typhoons,” he said.
“From day one, we undertook the large-scale
enhancement of our scientific capabilities,” the President said, citing the
positioning of Doppler radars and the launch of Project NOAH (Nationwide
Operational Assessment of Hazards).
He said the government has begun mapping the
topography of floodplains and river basins through Light Detection and Ranging
(LiDAR) technology and preparing multi-hazard maps that identify areas prone to
flooding, landslides, and tsunamis.
“We are also finding ways to make it easier for
all Filipinos to act on the information made available to them. From previously
just measuring wind strength alone to determine the intensity of storms, we now
measure rain strength as well,” he said.
“These, among other initiatives, demonstrate our
resolve to maximize the impact of technology on improving the resilience of our
communities,” he said.
President Aquino however said that despite these
efforts, Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), which struck the country in November last
year, “was unlike anything we had previously encountered.”
“Some experts say that it was the most powerful
storm to make landfall in recorded history. It certainly felt that way. Haiyan
swept away many of the relief goods we had stockpiled. It affected millions of
our countrymen, including some of the first responders who were supposed to
give initial assistance to those affected,” he said.
The President also noted that Typhoon Haiyan
came on the heels of several other natural and man-made disasters, such as the
Zamboanga City siege and the Bohol earthquake.
With assistance from thousands of volunteers,
various countries and international organizations, the communities affected by
Typhoon Haiyan are now recovering, President Aquino said.
“Eventually, through the assistance of thousands
of volunteers, as well as that of friends and partners around the globe, we
were able to help bring the affected communities back on their own two feet,
and are now helping them tread the path to recovery,” he said. PND (co)
European Union Commissioner expresses admiration
for resilient Philippines
Having witnessed the destruction wrought by
Super Typhoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan) days after it hit Tacloban City last year,
European Union (EU) Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian
Aid, and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva could express nothing but “huge
admiration” for the strength and resilience displayed by the Philippines in
dealing with disasters.
Commissioner Georgieva conveyed this personally
to President Benigno S. Aquino III during the Asia Europe Meeting (ASEM)
Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management held Thursday at the
Diamond Hotel in Manila, before hundreds of national and local government
officials, leaders from the private sector, and representatives of regional and
international organizations from 36 Asian and European countries.
“Mr. President, what you have achieved in these
six months is remarkable and it is a lesson for all of us,” she said while
acknowledging the fact that more needs to be done in rebuilding
calamity-stricken communities.
The EU Commissioner has made two separate visits
to Tacloban City—one immediately after Yolanda’s devastation and the other,
last Wednesday—and she described her feelings as “terrifying” in the first
experience and “having such a relief” in the second.
“I came immediately after Super Typhoon
“Yolanda” hit and I was terrified by the devastation, by the houses destroyed,
the livelihoods destroyed, the streets and roads mauled by debris, the line of
body bags on the two sides of the main road. So when I came yesterday
(Wednesday), it was such a relief, Mr. President, to see from the plane no
trees but the shiny roofs of houses you built and to talk to people who have
taken their lives back in their hands,” she said.
Georgieva noted that what happened in central
Philippines last year is the primary reason behind the ASEM Conference on
Disaster Risk Reduction and Management in Manila as it is “critically important
for the world to embrace this task of building resilient societies”.
Over the last three decades, the cost of damage
caused by natural disasters has already quadrupled, she said, from an average
of $50 billion a year during the 1980s to an average of $200 billion a year in
the last 10 years.
Georgieva said this is a reminder that the
threat of climate change in many countries will continue to increase and that
nobody is immune from it; hence, everyone must do something to better prepare
for future disasters.
“We can build preparedness and prevention in
everything we do. No, we cannot stop disasters from happening, but we can
prevent them… How can we do that? The number one priority in my view is to turn
around a pyramid in our investments that is today upside down,” she said.
The EU commissioner said only four percent of
the total spending related to disasters is spent on preparedness and prevention
while 96 percent is allocated after a calamity strikes and it is about time to
reverse this plan.
“Turning this pyramid of investments around
would go a long way to have resilient societies and we know getting there is so
clear that it makes financial economic sense. One peso, one euro, one dollar
investment in prevention brings four to seven times savings in terms of
reduction in damage,” she said.
She also emphasized that international
cooperation is the only way forward to achieve this as “no country is rich
enough on its own” to cope with a more difficult and fragile future, citing the
2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami as an example.
Georgieva presented five core principles that
have to be integrated in the international cooperation: a good system of
distributing the right information, having a strong focus on results, making
sure that disaster risk reduction contributes to economic growth, focusing on
the most vulnerable people, and taking the 2015 meeting in Sendai, Japan as a
“huge chance to set the world on a more sustainable course.”
She said she is confident that the Tacloban
Declaration that will be produced by the ASEM Manila Conference on Disaster
Risk Reduction and Management by Friday, June 6, would fit right into the
expected success of that meeting in Sendai on March 11 next year or in time for
the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami’s fourth anniversary. PND (hdc)
