Phl urged: Invest more vs disasters

MANILA, Philippines - With the vulnerability of its communities to disasters, the Philippines must invest more in protecting its citizens against the effects of climate change, according to international humanitarian and development agency Oxfam.

In a report titled “Can’t Afford to Wait,” Oxfam cited the Philippines as one of the countries in Asia that are most vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change.

Aside from the Philippines, the Oxfam report also said Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia are not investing enough to protect their citizens despite the region’s vulnerability to disasters, and could suffer double the global average losses of gross domestic product by century’s end if measures are not put in place.

Oxfam’s report also stated that disaster risk reduction measures, such as support for diversified agricultural activities and robust evacuation systems at resettlement sites, are still lacking across many municipalities, particularly in the areas hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in November last year.

“A year after Typhoon Yolanda devastated the Philippines, close to a million people continue to live in inadequate shelters and are still struggling to find the resources to resume their livelihoods,” Oxfam said.

Oxfam, in a separate report titled “In the Shadow of the Storm: Getting Recovery Right One Year After Typhoon Haiyan,” called on the national government to comprehensively address remaining humanitarian needs, while delivering a scaled up, pro-poor recovery agenda.

“It should not be business as usual,” Oxfam said.

DSWD targets met

On the other hand, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said it would depend on Oxfam whether its target of having no more homeless Yolanda survivors by yearend will be met.

Soliman said her department and other national government agencies that have their apportioned core and transitional shelter construction completion targets to allow the survivors living in tents to relocate to decent and safer homes, had made good on their “deliverables.”

“We had been given our own assigned transitional shelters to complete,” Soliman said. – With Rainier Allan Ronda