Chinese execs ready to share disaster strategy with Phl

DUJIANGYAN, Sichuan – With floods spawned by Super Typhoon Mario devastating several areas in the Philippines, local officials here yesterday expressed readiness to share their experience in rescue and relief operations in times of disasters.

Sun Lingxia, director of the reconstruction and management office of this province, did not discount the possibility of helping out local and national officials in Manila by letting them know how they handled the strong quake of May 12, 2008.

The magnitude-8 quake which struck Sichuan province left about 60,000 people dead and over 300,000 people injured.

Dujiangyan, which was near the epicenter, recorded a total of 3,091 deaths and scores of people injured.

“Nearly all the city was destroyed but after three days, people got clean water and basic needs for life support from the government,” Sun told a 15-member Philippine media delegation here.

Three months after the disaster, the state council, with the help of the central government, had rebuilt the houses of the affected families and put up rows of plank houses and hospitals.

Sun, who is the counterpart of Presidential Assistant for Disaster Recovery Secretary Panfilo Lacson, said the government had finished the reconstruction of destroyed villages and put up the necessary infrastructure three years after the 2008 earthquake.

“The government and the military played a key role in rescue work,” she said.

About 100,000 soldiers from the People’s Liberation Army were deployed here for relief and rescue operations.

A monument was erected in the compound of the Dujiangyan Planning Exhibition Pavilion, which was constructed to showcase the residents’ disaster preparedness. The area has also become a tourist attraction.

The May 12, 2008 earthquake was so far the strongest that hit the province since 1936, according to Sun.

Fortunately, all members of her family survived the tragedy.

Apart from the full reconstruction of the villages that were almost flattened by the tremor, Sun said local officials also helped the residents, especially women and children, cope with their traumatic experience.

Meanwhile, former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was given recognition for being one of the heads of state who immediately expressed concern and sympathy to the province after the earthquake.

Arroyo went to visit the disaster areas here three months after the earthquake.