Philippines to push for disaster risk reduction programs during APEC forum

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will push for stronger programs and greater cooperation on disaster risk reduction and management during the Senior Disaster Management Officials Forum in Iloilo next week.

National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) Executive Director Alexander Pama said the Philippines would emphasize the need to work together to ensure resilient economies that would directly benefit the people.

“The Philippines will be emphasizing that disaster can no longer be managed single-handedly and in isolation by an economy, a sector or an organization by itself,” Pama said in a press conference Wednesday in Camp Aguinaldo.

“The Philippines will stress the need for an inter-economy cooperation in dealing with disasters to ensure sustainable economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region and promote a holistic, comprehensive, integrated and proactive approach as a new paradigm in addressing disasters and managing risks,” he added.

The 9th Senior Disaster Management Officials Forum will be held from September 22 to 23 in Iloilo and will be attended by representatives from 21 countries.

The forum seeks to provide a venue for senior disaster management officials to share best practices and revisit existing mechanisms to strengthen regional cooperation. The event will also highlight the need to address the impact of an unpredictable climate and the importance of investing on emergency preparedness.

Pama said delegates of the forum would craft a disaster risk reduction (DRR) framework for member countries of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC).

“Hopefully, the framework will be one of the Philippines’ deliverables in the hosting of the APEC 2015,” he said.

Pama said the framework would be similar to the Philippines’ four thematic areas of prevention and mitigation, preparedness and response, recovery and rehabilitation.

“Other economies will listen to our experiences. It will be a good opportunity to put disaster risk reduction and management issues on the table,” he said.

The Philippine delegation will be led by NDRRMC Chairman and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, who will also deliver a keynote message at the start of the forum.

The Philippines is prone to natural disasters because it is located within the so-called “Ring of Fire” and along the Pacific typhoon belt. About 20 tropical cyclones, five to seven of which are destructive, enter the country every year.

The Philippines was also among the countries most affected by natural hazards according to the Global Climate Risk Index 2015 released by environment and development group Germanwatch.