Press Release
June 18, 2009

RP need not be one of world's most unsafe places -- Loren

GENEVA -- Senator Loren Legarda said today that the next administration in the Philippines must focus on disaster risk reduction in the face of a global report that the country ranks high among countries at most risk from earthquakes, floods, typhoons and landslides.

Loren said that populations are made more vulnerable to natural disasters by the lack of concrete actions by governments to, for example, relocate people from danger zones like landslide-prone areas.

"Natural hazards cannot be stopped," conceded Loren, who delivered a speech Tuesday on a United Nations-sponsored meet on climate change and disaster risk reduction.

"But we can mitigate their impact and prevent disasters that result to loss of lives and properties. Vulnerabilities of populations come in many form," she added.

"The Philippines need not be one of the world's most unsafe places. We can do a lot to lessen the risks from natural disasters."

Loren cited as example of such preventable vulnerabilities the construction of schools and hospitals not only in danger zones but using inferior construction materials and techniques.

According to the Mortality Risk Index released by the UN International Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), the Philippines ranks No. 12 among 200 countries and territories whose populations are most at risk from natural disasters.

Bangladesh, China, Colombia, India and Indonesia are the top five unsafe places, based on the index, which Loren explained forms part of the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction.

In her speech, Loren said the ill effects of natural disasters are magnified by the problem of climate change, which calls for a "new development paradigm" to usher in a safer environment.

"Man's insatiable desire for economic gain has taken its toll on the environment," said Loren, referring to destructive economic activities like illegal logging and mining, among others."

Loren called on world leaders assembled at the Centre Internationale de Conferences de Geneva for the four-day 2nd Session of the Global Platform for Disaster Reduction to "decisively reduce disaster risks."

The "failing economic model of the west" is partly to blame for wealth-creation activities that ravage the environment, including the untrammeled use of fossil fuel like coal and oil.

Said fuels that power industries, households and transportation system are responsible for carbon emissions being blamed for global warming, which in turn is resulting to extreme climate changes.

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