USAID donates P32.4 million for Luzon's disaster planning programs

MANILA, Philippines - The United States Agency for International Development/Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA) has donated about P32.4 million for disaster preparedness and response projects in Luzon through the United Nations World Food Program (WFP).

The WFP’s one-year project in the provinces of Benguet, Cagayan, Laguna and Sorsogon is being implemented in collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the Office of Civil Defense and WFP’s local NGO partner the Philippine Business for Social Progress.

“WFP highly appreciates USAID/OFDA’s timely and generous funding for a key government priority. This support is critically needed for a country which is so vulnerable to natural disasters,” WFP-Philippines country director Stephen Anderson said in a statement.

“The recent floods and the damage to agriculture caused by Typhoons Pedring and Quiel have highlighted once again how essential it is for us to work together to improve disaster preparedness and response,” he said.

The WFP said participating local government units have earmarked P13.9 million in counterpart funds for the projects, while DSWD is providing P3.9 million from its disaster fund.

A Capacity Needs Assessment on Disaster Preparedness and Response that WFP conducted together with the Earthquakes and Megacities Initiative highlighted the need to mitigate the impact of landslides in Benguet, to improve flood control systems in Cagayan and Laguna and to strengthen the capability of communities in Sorsogon to better respond to volcanic eruptions and flooding, Anderson said.