Defense Secretary Teodoro: PH has to fortify infrastructures to counter severe disasters

MANILA – The Philippines needs to build up its "infrastructure" and "adaptation systems" amid threats of more severe disasters in the coming days, Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said on Wednesday.

"In the Philippines, we need to invest, actually, once again, (in) building our infrastructure, our mechanisms, our adaptation systems, in the face of more unpredictable and more violent disasters, with greater effects, for people, particularly complex emergencies," he said in a press briefing on the final day of the ASEAN Ministerial Conference on Disaster Resilience at the Conrad Manila in Pasay City.

Teodoro cited "volcano degassing coupled with the effects of the southwest monsoon, which convert and translate into lahar," and a phenomenon in which one part of the country is raining heavily while another is experiencing drought as among emergencies the country needs to prepare for.

"We have to work in order to (be) faster in order to dedicate the systems in infrastructure for our resilience. And we do not only need them or say that you have (a) spot for productivity, and for other purposes," he said.

Aside from this, the DND chief said the Philippines can also learn from other states' best practices in disaster response.

On Tuesday, President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. called on ASEAN member states to strengthen disaster preparedness, improve early warning systems and deepen regional cooperation as disasters become more frequent, interconnected and costly across Southeast Asia.

“This occasion not only recognizes the cooperation among ASEAN Member States over the past decades in reducing imminent risks, strengthening preparedness, and responding to emergencies in the face of disasters. It also offers an opportunity to look ahead,” Marcos, in his message delivered by Executive Secretary Ralph Recto, said.

ASEAN comprises Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam. (PNA)