| Description |
The project provides $3 million grant under the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund (APDRF) as emergency assistance to the Philippine Government in response to its appeal to the international community to provide humanitarian relief assistance, in the aftermath caused by a Category 5 Typhoon Haiyan (locally named Yolanda) that made its first landfall in Guiuan municipality in Eastern Samar province on 8 November 2013, and further moved and made subsequent landfalls over Toloso municipality south of Tacloban City in Leyte province, Daanbantayan and Bantayan Island in Cebu province, Concepcion in Iloilo province, the Calamian Group of Islands, and Busuanga in Palawan. Haiyan is the third Category 5 "super typhoon" to hit the Philippines since 2010, and possibly the strongest to ever hit land. United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team described the scale of destruction in Tacloban alone as comparable to the impact of the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami. The detailed situation update issued by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council on 12 November 2013 indicated that over 1,774 people are known to have lost lives, 2,487 are injured and 82 are still missing. Overall, a total of 1,387,446 families (6,937,229 people) have been affected in 7,488 barangays in 39 provinces of nine regions across the Philippines. A total of 582,303 people are currently displaced, with 319,867 persons in 1,135 evacuation centers and 262,436 outside the centers. On 9 November, the Government accepted the offer of international assistance through a letter to the United Nations Resident Coordinator. On 11 November, the Government declared a state of national calamity in order to speed up the relief efforts. |
| Project Rationale and Linkage to Country/Regional Strategy |
The extent of the damage caused by the disaster is of a scale beyond the existing capacity and resources of the Philippine Government to restore life-saving services to the affected population in a reasonable amount of time. While Government has mobilized its own budgetary resources, there is a need to supplement this with humanitarian assistance to prevent further escalation of knock-on effects from the disaster, such as, shortages in food supply, outbreak of diseases, and increased risk from water borne and vector borne diseases in affected areas. Moreover, with the successive emergencies in the Philippines which began with the outbreak of fighting in Zamboanga City and Basilan on 9 September and the 7.2 magnitude Bohol earthquake on 15 October, the response capacities of government agencies dealing directly with the disaster has been significantly overstretched. To be more effective and timely in the rehabilitation effort, Government''s resources must be augmented by assistance from development partners. Considering these factors and the need to quickly respond to the situation, there is an urgent need to provide support for the restoration of life-preserving services to communities affected by Typhoon Yolanda. The government requested immediate ADB support under the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund (APDRF) on 12 November 2013. Immediate financial assistance from ADB would help alleviate resource constraints faced by the Government. Given the magnitude of the disaster, a financial assistance of $3 million is considered justified. |
