Japan sends rehab experts to ravaged parts of PH

The Japanese government has sent over experts to Manila to help the Philippines formulate a recovery and reconstruction plan for areas hardest hit by the recent supertyphoon.

In a statement Tuesday, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) said the experts would assess the situation in the devastated parts of the Philippines. They would then propose a rebuilding plan, creating structures resilient enough to withstand natural disasters.

The technical assistance is free of charge as it comes in the form of a grant, Jica said.

The experts from Jica have extensive experience in countries that had been hit by natural disasters. They assist governments in designing recovery plans to rebuild and mitigate future damages in the devastated areas, drawing on what Jica calls disaster risk reduction (DRR) investments.

Recognizing that the Philippines is prone to natural calamities, Jica said merely rebuilding the affected areas may not be enough. It said reconstruction should take into account the element of resiliency.

“Appropriate and careful reconstruction and land use planning must be done to ensure that the same damage brought by Supertyphoon Yolanda will not be repeated. Japan, which is now considered to have built a resilient society against disasters, has proven that DRR investment is essential to reduce mortality due to disasters,” said Jica expert for reconstruction planning Kimio Takeya.

Takeya said the Philippines should start making its disaster-prone areas more resilient.

“Japan’s resiliency to disasters is a hundred years of work. Now is the time for Philippines to start building a disaster resilient society,” he said.

The proposed reconstruction plans will be based on the “Build Back Better” concept, which aims to rebuild the community through proper land use while integrating DRR investments on roads, drainage, infrastructures, etc.

Jica applied the same concept when it helped rebuild communities hit by disasters like the great East Japan earthquake (2011), the earthquake in Haiti (2010), and the flood in Thailand (2011).

The world’s largest bilateral aid agency has also been providing technical assistance for the recovery and rebuilding of damaged infrastructure in Bohol, after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit the province last October.

For years, Jica has helped the country beef up its disaster response initiatives. It helped build evacuation shelters in Albay, and held capacity-building activities for frontline Philippine agencies.