Manila: The Philippines has much to learn from Japan’s experience in the earthquake and tsunami episode that devastated large areas of the country a year ago, as well as its own experiences in similar catastrophes.

A full year after a powerful magnitude 9.1 earthquake struck northeast Japan Executive Secretary Pacquito Ochoa said the vulnerability of Japan and the Philippines from the onslaught of severe weather disturbances and movements in the earths’ crust underscores the being always prepared for calamities.

“The March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan and Typhoon Sendong (Philippine codename, Washi) in our country underscore the particular vulnerability of our two countries, and stress the importance of disaster readiness and response programmes to address such vulnerabilities,” Ochoa said.

Assistance

In a speech he delivered in Manila on the occasion of the commemoration of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami tragedy, Ochoa expressed gratitude to the Japanese government for helping the country prepare for calamities.

Japan, through its overseas development assistance (ODA), has been helping the Philippines to address its vulnerabilities to calamity and improve disaster prevention and response capabilities.

According to Ochoa, through the Japanese ODA, the country has been able to upgrade its radar systems, flood warning measures, emergency shelters, and river channel improvement projects.

“Next month, in fact, we will be inaugurating a new radar station in Virac, Catanduanes (in Central Philippines that was built from the funding provided by the Japan International Cooperation Agency,” Ochoa said.

“The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) believes that the completion of this radar station will substantially improve the accuracy of weather forecasts, thus resulting in more timely warnings for our people and helping minimize human casualties and property damage as a result of the severe weather disturbances that constantly batter the country,” he added.

Collaboration

Ochoa commended the Japanese government for further extending assistance to other countries in the region such as the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“We commend Japan for its support for the establishment of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management and of an ASEAN-wide information-sharing network regarding Disaster Management,” Ochoa said.

“It is hoped that collaborations such as these will help countries such as ourselves replicate the level of disaster response readiness that Japan showed last year,” he said.

“In leading the way to find means to mitigate the effects of the natural disasters that will inevitably plague us, Japan has shown us the best strategy in dealing with natural calamities—and that is to work amongst ourselves to implement programs and projects that will help ensure that natural disasters do not become greater tragedies by needlessly claiming more lives,” Ochoa said.

Like Japan, the Philippines is located in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area frequented by powerful storms an earthquakes.