HONORABLE ASSISTANT SECRETARY Raymund E. Liboro,
Department of Science and Technology
HONORABLE Renato U. Solidum Jr.,
Director of Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology
DISTINGUISED GUESTS;
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:
Good morning. It is my great honor to join you for this hand-over ceremony of disaster risk management equipment today.
First of all, let me touch upon the 7.2 magnitude Bohol Earthquake, because this day also marks its second year anniversary. On behalf of the Government and people of Japan, I would like to express our deepest condolences to the bereaved families who lost their loved ones in the Earthquake.
Both the Philippines and Japan are disaster-prone countries. We have typhoons, earthquakes and volcanoes in common. Our people have learnt how to cope with disaster through many shattering disasters. We can proudly say that our two countries have helped each other in times of disaster, fostering solidarity between our people.
Last March, “3rd UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management” was held in Sendai City, Japan. The Philippines sent one of the biggest delegations among countries. I would like to express my appreciation to the Philippine government for its large contributions to the success of this Conference. Following the conference, on the occasion of His Excellency President Aquino’s state visit to Japan in June, President Aquino and Prime Minister Abe agreed to launch “Policy Dialogue on Disaster Risk Reduction” between two governments. This is one of the major achievements of the state visit to further strengthen our cooperative relationship.
It is therefore with this sense of solidarity that I am here today to turnover real-time earthquake and tsunami monitoring system as well as tsunami simulation database development hardware.
Disasters can happen anywhere and it is unavoidable. What we can do is plan ahead in order to minimize disaster damage and work together to rebuild and recover faster.
As JICA head, Mr. Niwa introduced, the monitoring systems will help to minimize loss of human lives while the establishment of a tsunami simulation database is expected to provide more accurate and quicker warnings.
It is my sincere wish that the experience acquired through this project will promote public awareness and stimulate further disaster mitigation investment in the Philippines.
I wish our assistance will contribute to create the safer and more resilient society in the Philippines.
Thank you. / Maraming Salamat po.
