RP ranked 8th among countries with most casualties from disasters

MALDIVES – The Philippines ranked 8th among countries in the world with the most number of casualties due to tropical cyclones and other major disasters last year, according to the 2008 General Assessment Report (GAR) that the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) will launch in Manila next month.

The launching of the 2008 GAR was originally scheduled on Aug. 3 with Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro leading the ceremonies at the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) head office in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City.

However, the launch was tentatively moved to Aug. 7 or 8 when the defense chief, who is concurrent NDCC chairman, returns to Manila from Washington. Teodoro would accompany President Arroyo on a state visit this July 30.

US President Barack Obama has invited the President to a meeting at the White House to discuss counter-terrorism and climate change concerns, among other issues, between the two countries.

Teodoro is among the Cabinet members in the official delegation of Mrs. Arroyo in her meeting with Obama.

UNISDR senior regional coordinator Jerry Velasquez disclosed to The STAR that the UNISDR, which assisted the drafting of the 2008 GAR, was formally launched in Bahrain last May.

This was subsequently launched in Indonesia, Thailand, Iran, Samoa and Japan, which are among the top ten countries that recorded the highest number of casualties due to natural calamities.

China and Myanmar were the top two countries in the GAR last year due to the Sichuan earthquake and cyclone Nargis, respectively.

The GAR stated that disaster risk is not evenly distributed and that developing countries like the Philippines have a “highly disproportionate share of risk.”

The GAR cited that Japan has approximately 2.5 million citizens exposed annually to tropical cyclones while the Philippines has 16 million.

However, the estimated annual death toll from cyclones in the Philippines is almost 17 times greater than that of Japan.

Velasquez explained that the launching of the GAR would trigger negotiations for bilateral and multilateral donations to assist the Philippines in improving its disaster prevention, response and mitigation measures.

Aside from the launching of the 2008 GAR, Velasquez said the international community has also been awaiting the Philippines’ ratification of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response.

The document was signed by the foreign ministers of the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Laos in 2005.

While nine of the ten ASEAN member states have already ratified this agreement, the Philippines has yet to enter formally and bind the country to the ASEAN pact.

The full ratification of the agreement by the entire ASEAN will automatically trigger the release of some $15-million worth of funding assistance from Japan.

The instrument of ratification for this agreement is pending before the Senate committee on foreign relations chaired by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

Sen. Loren Legarda, who is the UNISDR-designated “champion” for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, vowed here yesterday to prod her colleagues in Congress to work closely with the executive branch and put into a body of law the Strategic National Action Plan on Disaster Risk Reduction (SNAP), which shall provide direction and actions for reducing disaster risks in the country.

The SNAP bill, co-authored by Legarda and Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, seeks to establish a permanent government agency to replace NDCC to be known as the Disaster Risk Management. –Marichu Villanueva, Philippine Star