Asean Expresses Sympathy To Philippines In Wake Of Typhoon

By Minggu Simon Lhasa BANGKOK (Thailand), Dec 10 (Bernama) -- The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) has expressed sympathy to the Philippines after the country was battered over the weekend by Typhoon Hagupit (locally known as Ruby) while still recovering from last year's Haiyan disaster. Asean Secretary-General Le Luong Minh, in a letter addressed to Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs Albert del Rosario, also offered assistance to the country. Minh said: "Asean stands ready to assist the Philippines in the ongoing response to the disaster." He said Asean would work closely with the Asean Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre) to continuously monitor the situation. In his letter to del Rosario, Minh commended the Philippine Government "for its early warning efforts and implementation of disaster preparedness plans which have prevented greater losses and damages." Asean has deployed six members from its Emergency Response and Assessment Team (Erat) and the AHA Centre since Dec 4, with two more on standby. In a statement, Asean said its team on the ground worked closely with the Philippine National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) to provide emergency telecommunication support; assist in rapid assessment of NDRRMC; and, provide logistic support for the deployment of relief items from Asean’s emergency stockpile in Subang, Malaysia and facilitate incoming assistance from Asean Member States as needed. Meanwhile in a separate statement, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations said its representative in the Philippines, José Luis Fernandez praised the Philippine Government for its quick and timely early warnings and response to Hagupit. FAO said the latest government figures estimated a total of 55,850 hectares of damage and a production loss of 56,090 metric tonnes (rice, corn and high value crops) in the affected regions of Bicol and Eastern and Western Visayas. "Initial reports indicate that Typhoon Hagupit has thankfully been far less devastating than Haiyan for the agricultural sector," said Fernandez. --BERNAMA