A productive visit to Washington

I had a breakfast meeting with former Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Kurt Campbell.  Many will recall that he was instrumental in developing the “Pivot to Asia policy” of President Obama. There is growing speculation that Mr. Campbell will hold a very significant State Department position should Mrs. Hillary Clinton make it to the White House.

He was emphatic in stating the bilateral relations between the US and the Philippines was strong. Yet, he bemoaned the lack of a vigorous business relationship between the two countries. True, the established American multinationals had a meaningful presence in Manila, but the recent foreign direct investment figures indicated a discernible lack of vigor between the two countries.  He believed that there should be an interactive relationship between the young entrepreneurs of the Philippines and the United States. Campbell volunteered to organize such an effort provided we agreed to coordinate from Manila. Ambassador Cuisia and I agreed that this would be worth pursuing.  Further dialogue is required and he promised to send us a position paper on this.

As an aside, Kurt Campbell surprised me when he said: “I hope you appreciate the excellent performance of Ambassador Cuisia in representing your country. I particularly like his “very frank and direct style”.  On another occasion, someone else described Cuisia as “ubiquitous”. Indeed, I concur with the appraisal of his American friends. He is the kind of diplomat we need in such an important post.  

On Nov. 18, my colleagues Ernesto Garilao of the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF) and Antonia Yulo Loyzaga of the Manila Observatory and I had confirmed appointments with two officials of the World Bank. Our objective was to introduce ourselves and our respective organizations in the hope that we could interest them in partnering with us: first  in the area of maternal mortality, having just learned that the World Bank would be given a $3 billion grant by Norway and Canada, and second to enlighten officials on our three year Resiliency Project. 

Ernie Garilao captured their interest describing the capacity building program in the Health Leadership and Governance Program for local chief executives. There was a clear commitment that they would further their interest through dialogue and collaboration in 2015. Our second meeting on our Resiliency Project will require further clarification and follow up. Assurances were given that he would give us feedback in due time after discussing with his superior. Overall, we were gratified that we were able to provide input on our operations with this institution before 2015.

US-Philippines Society

The primary purpose of our visit to Washington, D.C.  was to participate in the “Readiness and Resilience: Lessons Learned One Year After Typhoon Haiyan” Conference sponsored by the US Philippines Society, the Center for Strategic & International  Studies and the Embassy of the Philippines.

DPWH Secretary Rogelio Singson was the keynote speaker. He gave a comprehensive overview of what the government did and its future plans. Lawyer Karen Jimeno presented the performance and plans of Secretary Panfilo Lacson’s in OPARR.

Ernesto Garilao and I conveyed our gratitude to the donors who generously gave close to P23 million to the Zuellig Family Foundation.  Except for the purchase of medicines and goods distributed in the immediate aftermath of the storm, the rest of the funds were spent in 12 municipalities in the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar for the Foundation’s Recovery Assistance Program for Mothers that started in January 2014. By the end of the program last July 31, 4,253 pregnant mothers in the 12 municipalities received financial incentives. As a result of its success, I understand Philhealth will adopt this program.

Antonia Yulo Loyzaga described the urgent need to develop a sustained resiliency program considering the fact that the Philippines is the second most vulnerable to natural disasters, according to the UN University World Risk Report. In the case of earthquakes, Manila was considered the most vulnerable after Tokyo.

As Ambassador John Maisto, the president of the US-Philippines Society (USPS) summarized: “In addition to showcasing all that has been done over the past year, the symposium accomplished the objectives of raising awareness of continuing recovery needs, reviewing lessons learned and laying out the challenges of disaster response. During the question and answers portion, key insights were drawn on the need for strengthening resilience in the Philippines. I believe we will have to come back to the resilience theme in creative ways as we plan our activities in the months and years ahead. Resilience is a lively subject in Washington these days.”

In terms of expenditures during Yolanda, Ms. Jimeno commented that government expenditure versus private sector was approximately a ratio of 4 to 1.Interestingly, it was the consensus of the participants that the private sector must contribute substantially more in preparing for future disasters. The national government cannot do it alone. There were even recommendations to institutionalize the participation of the private sector in times of disasters. As an example, Mrs. Loyzaga described the probability of an earthquake in Manila. Business continuity was challenging enough, but at the same time the presence of four million informal settlers looking for food and water provided a scenario difficult to resolve without preplanning and support from the private sector.  It should be a total team effort devoid of commercial partisan interests. There was also a consensus that there must be capacity building programs in leadership and governance for local chief executives in the rural areas as demonstrated by Butch Meilly of Philippine Disaster Response Foundation and Ernie Garilao of ZFF.

Our profound thanks go to the US-Philippines Society which has indeed become a significant player in espousing the Philippine cause.