A top official of the United Nations and her team visited Catanduanes last week to discuss the local government units’ preparations on the El Niño climate crisis and learn best local practices in dealing with natural disasters for replication abroad.
Assistant Secretary General Reena Ghelani, who is also the UN’s Climate Crisis Coordinator, arrived last Thursday, April 18, 2024, together with Vincent Omuga, Deputy Head of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Asia Pacific Regional Office, and their team.
In a brief meeting with local media, Ghelani said that her visit to the country has a focus on the climate crisis as the Philippines, although the least responsible, is at the sharp end of the El Niño phenomenon.
She disclosed that they have been meeting with government officials to discuss how the international community can support the country and also to learn lessons from it as the Philippines is used to dealing with natural hazards.
“We came to the island to talk with communities on how they are impacted by the crisis but also how they are dealing with it because it is usually communities at the frontline that have the answers,” the UN official stated.
She added that they have been talking with groups of women on the matter, including solutions to shelter issues.
Back in December, the Philippine government had already expressed concern on El Niño and crafted a National Action Plan, with Pres. Ferdinand Marcos insisting on a whole of government approach.
“What we see here is actually a drought, with 1.4 million people impacted by lack of rain and high temperatures,” ASG Ghelani pointed out. “What we are concerned about in this island is the sea temperature rising during an El Niño in the Pacific so there is a possibility of harsher typhoons forming as we enter the neutral phase.”
Noting that Catanduanes is described as the gateway of typhoons, she said a lot of lessons could be learned here and with the 60 percent chance of La Niña forming, there should be preparations for what will come next, especially more rain and typhoons.
“We are talking about how much longer the government plans to address this, including the National Adaptation Plan, as what we need here is an international collaboration with the Philippines, to ensure that countries most impacted receive climate crisis financing that is available,” Ghelani said.
She added that the information gained during the visit will be brought for the world to learn as there is a lot the Philippines can teach other countries looking for answers.
She likewise encouraged the youth not only to be very active in the climate issue but to take the lead and voice their concerns about their future by demanding solutions from the international community.
For his part, Omuga stressed that as climate change will be here for years to come, the youth should occupy their space as leaders of the future.
“Unless they occupy that space, it may be a little too late so they need to get active, they need to adapt and they need to amplify their voices so they can have a better future for the generations to come,” he added.
The two officials visited several barangays in Virac, Baras and other towns to look at how women’s groups are coping with the climate crisis.
At the Provincial Capitol, they joined Governor Joseph Cua, Vice Governor Peter Cua, PBMs Rafael Zuniega, Joselito Alberto, Edwin Tanael, Robert Fernandez and Dean Roberto Vergara as well as department heads in watching a Table Top Exercise (TTX) on the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for Anticipatory Action (AA) for predictable hazards, especially a typhoon in case of Catanduanes.
For this exercise, the team composed of representatives from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as lead coordinator, World Food Programme (WFP), International Office for Migration (IOM), United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the Office of the Governor and the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) used the approach of Category 5 super typhoon “Rolly/Goni” as example.
On D-6 (Day minus 6), the partners are informed about the formation of a weather disturbance in the Pacific Ocean.
On D-5, an advisory about a potential readiness activation goes out and the PDRRM Council conducts a Pre-Disaster Rapid Assessment Report (PDRA).
With the rapid intensification of the storm by afternoon, the readiness trigger is reached and warnings are sent to municipalities while the team prepares a crisis timeline using the typhoon’s projected path and landfall.
All the agencies begin coordinating with their partners in Catanduanes, with funding for cash transfers prepared, modular tents and WASH kits prepositioned while staff begin to deploy to the island in case the action trigger is activated.
By afternoon of D-4, the activation threshold is reached, with a projected 5,000 homes destroyed with 100% probability under the scenario.
The CERF AA is activated before the 72-hour cut-off period and all Anticipatory Action activities should immediately commence.
Messages are sent to all concerned agencies and their partners, with the local government starting preemptive evacuation from danger zones.
Under the exercise, the FAO begins distributing multipurpose cash assistance to 7,000 beneficiaries in four towns, along with the evacuation of fishing boats to safe storage sites. The cash aid, which can also be send through digital wallets, provide flexibility for farming and fishing families to buy their needs before the typhoon arrives.
The WFP also sends a similar cash assistance through vouchers to be redeemed at Western Union by 8,894 households through their local partner BCDI at P350 per household to mitigate the effects of climate emergencies.
The IOM, on the other hand, deploys its modular tents for use in evacuation centers by families and provides P3,250 multipurpose cash assistance for use during their evacuation as well as P4,425 for the repair of their shelters after the typhoon.
UNICEF will distribute P1,200 per households to beneficiaries in four towns to cover the needs of children for Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) needs, nutrition, protection from violence and exploitation.
A similar aid, this time for health needs of pregnant women in their third trimester regardless of social status, is provided by UNFPA at P3,250 each for nearly 8,000 beneficiaries.
The agency will also deploy a sea ambulance and provide dignity kits.
On the query of Vice Gov. Cua on what happens to the aid if the typhoon changes course and in cases where some qualified recipients are not in the list, the CERF AA core team said that they work with the LGUs in targeting beneficiaries so as to make sure that the AA recipients are the ones needing assistance and are the most vulnerable to disasters.
There is no regret in releasing the cash aid even if the tropical cyclone changes path as the agencies’ response to the affected communities in other provinces will be separate.
They stressed the need to invest more in preparedness and mitigation and in building better forward.
Regarding the LGU’s preparations for El Niño and La Niña, Gov. Cua reported that the PDRRM Council has already drafted an appropriate response.
OCHA’s Omuga noted that practices in Catanduanes, especially in evacuation, are replicable models in other countries.
“Extremely impressive,” UN Assistant Secretary General Ghelani described the province’s disaster action plans. “We have been hearing how well-prepared Catanduanes is and we are looking forward to telling others of the example set by the local government in how to prepare.”