Philippines: US preparedness for superstorm impresses PH senators

The Philippine Daily Inquirer reports on the views of senators concerned with disaster risk reduction and management on the onslaught of Hurricane Sandy, showing that even the most powerful nation on earth was no match to severe weather conditions caused by climate change.

“Their sense of preparedness is amazing and the political will of their leaders like Mayor Bloomberg is laudable considering he closed down the subways, forcibly evacuated residents as he did in Hurricane Irene,” Senator Loren Legarda, chair of the Senate committee on climate change, said when asked if Filipinos could learn anything from the US response to Sandy.

Sen. Gregorio Honasan, chair of the Senate committee on public order, nonetheless, said the country has not been too far behind the US in terms of disaster response, the Inquirer further mentions. “Yes, within our capabilities. I have no complaints. With all [the US'] capabilities, their manpower, they go through the same thing. We are not in bad shape,” Honasan said when asked if the country’s disaster response could already be compared to the US.