06 May 2014 – Philippine Non-resident Ambassador to Sweden Bayani S. Mercado met with officials from Ericsson and the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), led by Deputy Director-General Nils Svartz, in Stockholm on March 26 to personally extend the gratitude of the Philippine Government to the Swedish government agency for its immediate humanitarian assistance and logistical support for the Philippines in the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) last year.

Ambassador Mercado met with the officials from Ericsson, led by its Vice President and Corporate Oggicer Mr. Roland Nordgren, at the Ericsson Headquarters to thank the Swedish company for its role in the work of the emergency telecommunications cluster (ETC) of the relief operations, particularly in quickly restoring cellular communications in Tacloban. Through its Ericsson Response global initiative, volunteer Ericsson engineers deployed Ericsson’s WIDER wireless network system in Tacloban, Roxas City and Guiuan and provided communications expertise, equipment and resources to support the operations of the United Nations (UN) and other humanitarian agencies in these areas.

Ambassador Mercado cited the MSB and its International Humanitarian Partnership (IHP) counterparts in Norway, Denmark, Finland, Estonia and Luxembourg for its rapid response to the disaster, being among the first group to deploy much needed equipment and experts in ICT and satellite communications, medical care and water purification to Yolanda-hit areas to support UN’s disaster relief work. Within 72 hours after the super typhoon hit the Philippines, the MSB was able to deploy a Hercules airplane carrying base camp materials and communications equipment from the Örebro Airport in Sweden to the Philippines. According to Deputy Director-General Svartz, MSB personnel were already placed on standby even a day before Yolanda struck Central Visayas.

MSB’s operations in the Philippines also involved setting up the base camps or On-site Operations Coordinations Centers, in Ormoc, Tacloban and Guiuan, which provided the platform for accommodation, workspaces and a communications center for over 100 UN employees involved in the disaster relief work.

Deputy-Director General Svarts said the success of MSB’s deployment and operations in the Philippines was also partly due to the support and cooperation of its local partners in the Philippines, including national government agencies, local government units, non-governmental organizations, local communities and volunteers. Mr. Svartz also paid tribute to the resilience, hope and determination shown by the victims of Typhoon Yolanda to recover and rebuild their communities. END