4:00 pm, 12 November 2013,
Bulwagang Apolinario Mabini, DFA, Pasay City

Baroness Valerie Amos, United Nations Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator,

Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay of Turkey,

Ms. Luiza Carvalho, United Nations Resident Coordinator,


Mr. David Carden, Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs,

Excellencies of the Diplomatic Corps,

Members of the UN Country Team, ladies and gentlemen.

I am speaking to you during one of the most difficult times in my nation’s history. The Philippines is no stranger to natural disasters and yet the magnitude of the destruction wrought by typhoon Yolanda, internationally known as Haiyan, in the central Philippines is in a scale so massive from both a humanitarian and financial standpoint that it cannot even begin to compare with previous natural disasters. Just to serve as a basis of comparison, Yolanda was considered 3.5 times stronger than Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in the United States in the year 2005.

As massive as Yolanda was, so has been the international response in terms of assistance both financially and logistically. The outpouring of support from States and International Organizations has just been so overwhelming.

Last night I received a call from United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon offering the UN’s solidarity with the Filipino people. He further stated that the UN will do all it can to assist the Philippines in the recovery efforts. He brought the situation in the country to the attention of the entire 193-member UN General Assembly during a speech in that august body. Baroness Amos’ presence here is a further testament to the organization’s support for which the Philippines is most grateful.

I personally thanked the Secretary-General for coming through with his pledge for UN humanitarian agencies to respond rapidly to people in need. In particular, I thanked the UN Country Team in the Philippines, headed by Resident Coordinator Luiza Carvalho, for its swift action in bringing much needed emergency aid to the victims in the areas hardest hit by the typhoon.

The President has declared the nation to be in a state of calamity.  The Philippine government has also accepted the UN’s offer of assistance.

I wish to thank Baroness Amos and the UN Country Team for organizing this international flash appeal launch. Your presence is a sign of the UN’s commitment to help the victims of the disaster.

Through the cluster mechanism that coordinates humanitarian action with its international humanitarian partners, the Philippine government is working hard to bring emergency assistance to the victims, particularly in Tacloban.

We look forward to our continued partnership with the UN as we address the needs of our countrymen affected by the disasters, including those affected by the massive earthquake in Bohol and Cebu two months ago, even as they recover and reconstruct their lives.

Given the dire circumstances the UN has raised the assistance level for the Philippines to a level that would allow for much more resources to be allocated and an even wider response effort. The UN Humanitarian affairs office has already released an initial US$25 million to the Central Emergency Response Fund to mobilize the response effort.

The Philippines is indeed very grateful for the outpouring of support from the international community, consisting of our bilateral partners as well as NGOs and the private sector.

We wish to assure our friends all around the globe that the assistance they have generously offered will be used to rebuild the lives of those affected by the disasters that have wreaked havoc in our country in recent weeks. From the devastation it is clear though that much more aid and assistance will be needed and we thank the international community for its continued generosity and support.

The unprecedented scale and strength of Yolanda, a typhoon that occurred at a very late time in the year is a clear demonstration of the changing weather pattern. Whether the world faces up to it or not, this is a manifestation of climate change. The head of the Philippine delegation to the 19th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC), Commissioner Nadarev Sano has decided to go on a hunger strike to make his point.

The Philippines continues to uphold the UNFCC yet is concerned that most actions of the international community are focused on mitigation as opposed to adaptation. The latter being the Philippines’ priority. The international community stands at a point where even the most aggressive and immediate actions to mitigate climate change will not stop the impact at least for the next half of this century. While deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions may buy time for human and natural systems to adapt in the decades ahead, we must also begin dealing with the unfolding impact of climate change now.

It is essential that we leave the generations to come a planet that remains habitable. This we can only do if we work together as we are doing now united by our common goal to bring hope to those who are suffering and help them reclaim and rebuild their lives in light of this terrible tragedy.

Thank you very much, indeed. END