The Philippines is hit each year by several natural disasters — yet almost every time a typhoon or an earthquake strikes, the country seems ill-equipped to deal with the aftermath.
While it’s practically impossible to fully prepare for such a massive disaster as Typhoon Haiyan in late 2013, a newly expanded government program now aims to draw on lessons learned to lessen the risks and mitigate the impact of climate-related incidents in the country, one of the world’s most vulnerable to natural calamities and the effects of climate change.
“It’s more costly for the government to react [to disasters] than preparing for them. It is much better to invest and build back better, faster and safer,” Lesley Cordero, a top official with the Philippine government’s Haiyan rehabilitation office, said at the launch of the Resilience and Preparedness for Inclusive Development program by the Philippine Climate Change Commission.