Australia supports Philippines to reduce risk of disasters
The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAid) announced recently that it will commit approximately P720 million to help implement a disaster risk management plan at the local level reports ABS-CBN.
“The Philippines has a strong legal and institutional platform by which to address the potential phenomenal devastation wrought by natural disasters,” said AusAid Philippines executive, Erika Geronimo. She cited the DRRM Act and the Climate Change Act as examples of these platforms.
“These laws, when enforced, would herald a major paradigm shift in the way we deal with disasters that further impoverish the poor and puts 80 percent of our gross domestic product always at risk,” said Geronimo reading from the speech of AusAid Minister Counsellor in the Philippines Titon Mitra.
She noted that AusAid’s future investment would go into helping “localize” these national policies at the provincial and municipal levels.