The government of Canada and the the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have provided additional assistance to the thousands of victims of Typhoon “Pablo” (Bopha) in the Visayas and Mindanao.
Canada said it will be providing more than P 70 million (Cad$ 1.75 million) as additional assistance to the typhoon victims while the ASEAN has tapped its Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre) to address some of the needs of the families affected by the cyclone.
Canada had earlier provided an initial donation of P 10 million (Cad$ 250,000) to the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to support the Philippine Red Cross in helping approximately 50,000 people affected by the typhoon.
"Canada is responding to the increasing needs of the people of the Philippines as they face the alarming devastation caused by the typhoon," said Minister of International Cooperation Julian Fantino in a press statement. "We are helping families survive by providing critical humanitarian assistance.”
Canada’s assistance, through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), will support the following organizations for urgently needed food, safe drinking water, emergency shelter, and other assistance to approximately 480,000 affected people in the worst-hit areas:
- United Nations World Food Programme will provide access to emergency food assistance to reduce the vulnerability of crisis-affected people, especially women and children. (Cad$ 700,000)
- United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) will provide emergency water, sanitation, and hygiene assistance. (Cad$ 350,000)
- International Organization for Migration will provide emergency shelters and camp support, including coordination and management, for people displaced as a result of the typhoon. (Cad$ 700,000)
Canada vowed to continue monitoring the situation in southern Philippines to ensure humanitarian needs are met and provide further assistance if required.
AHA Centre
On the other hand, AHA Centre has deployed three generators to Boston, Davao Oriental; New Bataan, Compostela Valley; and Cagayan de Oro.
The delivery of mobile storages and other relief items are also on the way, according to Said Faisal, executive director of AHA Centre.
“We work closely with the NDRRMC to know what they need and we work closely with other ASEAN Member countries to assist in fulfilling their needs,” Faisal said in a press statement.
On December 7, Malaysia sent its first batch of aid that consists of food, milk, and tents, while Indonesia handed over $1 million to the government of Philippines. Singapore also deployed an emergency response team to support the emergency planning and preparation.
“These show that humanitarian assistance in ASEAN is now institutionalised, and ASEAN responds as a group,” ASEAN deputy secretary-general Alicia dela Rosa Bala said.
However, in view of the level of damage, more assistance will be needed. “We will do our best to facilitate the Government and the community in disaster-affected areas to receive what is needed through our ASEAN family,” Faisal said.
With the support from the Japan-ASEAN Integration Fund (JAIF), AHA Centre launched last week a Disaster Emergency Logistic System for ASEAN. This system enables the Centre to provide a rapid delivery of relief items in times of disaster emergencies.
In the deployment of relief items to Pablo-affected areas, AHA Centre has been working closely with the UN Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) in Subang, Malaysia as well as World Food Programme (WFP) in the Philippines.
AHA Centre conducts its day-to-day operations in Jakarta. As mandated by the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER), the Centre serves as the regional hub for disaster risk monitoring and analysis, and a coordination engine to ensure ASEAN’s fast and collective response to disasters within the region.
The death toll from Pablo went up further to 906 as of early Friday, while the estimated damage caused by the cyclone ballooned to P15.1 billion, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.
In its 7 a.m. update, the NDRRMC said 575 of the fatalities had been identified so far, even as 932 remain missing while 2,660 were injured. Pablo had affected 537,445 families or 5,516,181 people in 1,999 villages in 263 towns and 38 cities in 32 provinces.
Damage caused by Pablo was estimated at P15,116,602,128.05, including P5,370,849,200 in infrastructure, P9,696,793,515.05 in agriculture, and P48,959,413 in private properties. — Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News
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