LOREN LEGARDA: Senator Loren Legarda's Global Assessment Report (GAR) Opening Speech

OPENING ADDRESS OF SENATOR LOREN LEGARDA
Philippine launch of the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction: Revealing Risk, Redefining Development
Senator Padilla Room
July 26, 2011

This forum could not come at a more opportune time. Yesterday, we heard the State of the Nation Address (SONA) from our President. I laud President Aquino for speaking on good governance, social protection, and socio-economic gains, among other successes. However, as UNISDR Regional Champion for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation for the Asia and the Pacific, I would appreciate the SONA more if the President asserted more clearly how the government will pursue disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation in a more comprehensive and effective way as a national strategy to achieve our development goals.

The reported eighteen-fold increase in our economic losses due to disasters since 1970 is alarming. How can we move on as a nation towards growth and progress if hard-earned socio-economic gains are often set back by the impact of recurring natural hazards?

We also saw in Japan that disaster risks can overwhelm even a developed and risk-oriented nation.

In the Philippines, the threat of strong typhoons constantly bring back the fears of another Ondoy or Pepeng, which killed nearly a thousand people, affected about two million families and led to a staggering 4.4 billion US dollars in total damage and losses, or the equivalent of 2.7 percent of the country's GDP in 2009.

As they say, "When disaster strikes, the time to prepare has passed." We should work together and not let the time to prepare pass. But do we have the political will to make the right choice for our people? How can we invest more today for a safer tomorrow?

We have long recognized that disaster prevention makes good economic sense. The Philippine legislature has taken a proactive stance on this development issue by passing the Climate Change Act of 2009 and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010.


Read full speech here:
http://www.lorenlegarda.com.ph/speeches_049_philippine_launch_of_the_global_a...

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• GAR
• global assessment report
• philippines
• GAR conference
• climate change
• united nations
• UNISDR