US execs, int’l policymakers to tackle rehab for Visayas

MANILA, Philippines - Senior US State Department officials and international policymakers will meet next week in Washington to discuss a comprehensive disaster assessment and rehabilitation platform in the typhoon-ravaged Visayas region.

According to the website of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies, the “US Response to Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) in the Philippines” conference “will focus on the role of the US government and military, private sector, and non-government organizations in responding to the devastation.”

“The conference will provide estimates of the rehabilitation needs and a platform to think about how US policy makers should look at the rehabilitation going forward,” the post on the website reads.

The Philippines is sending its ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia to conference, which will be held in Washington on Jan. 8.

Cuisia is expected to provide an update on the ongoing rehabilitation and normalization efforts of the Philippine government and non-government groups in the Visayas.

For his part, Ernest Bower, senior adviser and Sumitro Chair for Southeast Asia Studies, would be outlining the mission during the conference.

Senior US defense and state department officials, world aid program representatives and financial managers are expected to attend the conference.

Typhoon Yolanda slammed Central and Eastern Visayas and portions of Luzon, causing massive devastation that severely affected 16 million people and left P36-billion damage to infrastructure and agriculture.

Two days after the monster storm, the US government responded, bringing tons of food and other relief items to typhoon victims in the Visayas. Around 50 US military ships and aircraft were involved in relief efforts and nearly 1,000 military personnel were deployed to disaster areas.

Aside from the US, at least 23 countries responded to the United Nations’ appeal to bring aid to the Philippines.