Sen. Loren Legarda hosted a small reception at the Manila Polo Club for United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary General for Disaster Risk Reduction Margareta Wahlström. The UN disaster risk reduction chief has been a frequent visitor to the Philippines since her appointment in 2008 working closely with Senator Legarda, whose advocacy for environmental protection and management has earned for her the title UNISDR (United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction) regional champion for Asia and the Pacific.
The Philippines is the third most disaster-prone country in the world being vulnerable to earthquakes, floods, landslides and typhoons. Wahlström, who recently met with officials of the Department of Science and Technology to keep abreast of the government’s programs for disaster risk mitigation, stressed that people should not blame nature for disasters, saying they are but consequences of how and where people and society build structures.
Wahlström noted that the impact of disasters has become more pronounced over the years due to the increasing population, with more people competing for the dwindling resources of the planet. Aside from lost lives, disasters also inflict major damage on businesses and property, like typhoon Yolanda that cost the Philippines an estimated $13 billion in terms of economic losses.
For her part, Senator Legarda has been tireless in her advocacy to intensify the people’s awareness about the consequences of environmental degradation and climate change, coordinating with local government executives, working with the private sector and urging the public to be conscious of the need for disaster preparedness.
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The “green†senator has also produced audio-visual presentations like the 16-minute instructional video Ligtas about disaster preparedness for typhoons, floods, earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis, with Loren doing the narration. She also did Buhos, a climate change documentary and Yanig, a disaster risk reduction infomercial.