EdAngara.com - The Official Website of Senator Edgardo J. Angara

Senator Edgardo J. Angara expressed his deep sympathy for the victims of tropical storm Sendong, and reiterated the need for more effective disaster risk reduction measures in the Philippines, especially since the country is one of the most calamity-prone in the world.

“I am deeply saddened by the escalating death toll and destruction caused by Sendong. Let us heed the warning brought by the recent spate of calamities,” said Angara, emphasizing that the Philippines must adopt a new strategy in preparing for disasters to prevent the loss of lives.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara urged telecommunications providers to draw up disaster management plans and ensure that the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure they utilize are resilient against natural calamities.

Angara, Chair of the Senate Committee on Science and Technology, cited a recent survey from Regus—a Luxembourg-based flexible workplace solutions provider—showing nearly half of Philippine-based respondents do not have disaster recovery plans in place for their ICT systems.

comste.gov.ph

The onslaught of Typhoon Sendong underscores the urgency of the establishment of a Disaster Science and Management innovation cluster in the country, said Senator Edgardo J. Angara, chair of the Congressional Commission on Science, Technology and Engineering (COMSTE).

Angara, also the Chair of the Senate Committee on Education, Arts and Culture, pushed for funding in the 2012 national budget for the establishment of innovation clusters—a consortium of government, academe and industry focused on research and development that will address five key areas or clusters.

PHOTO CREDIT: newsinfo.inquirer.net

Senator Edgardo J. Angara expressed deep sympathy for the victims of the devastation caused by Typhoon ‘Sendong’ (International Name: Washi). As of Monday morning, casualties from the flash floods were said to have breached the 600 mark.

Senator Edgardo J. Angara called for the fast modernization of the disaster monitoring and management system in the country, citing the recently released 2011 Climate Change Vulnerability Index (CCVI) that placed the Philippines 10th among countries in “extreme risk” of climate change.

Collated by risk analysis firm Maplecroft, the CCVI 2012 also describes Manila as “extremely vulnerable” to climate-change driven floods and typhoons, noting a combination of exposure to hazards, poor socio-economic factors and a slow capacity to adapt.