Philippines : Typhoon Odette Emergency Response Project

Public sector management / Social protection initiatives

On 16-17 December 2021, Typhoon Rai (local name Odette) brought torrential rains, extreme winds, landslides, and storm surges across the Philippines. It made nine landfalls in the provinces of Surigao del Norte (including the island of Siargao), Dinagat Islands, Southern Leyte, Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, and Palawan before exiting in the West Philippines Sea. The first landfall was in northeastern Mindanao carrying winds up to 270 kilometers per hour (km/h) with maximum sustained winds of 195 km/h near the center, making it the strongest storm to make landfall in the Philippines in 2021. While some local government units carried out preemptive evacuations, this was not possible for most of the affected areas as the typhoon strengthened by 85 miles per hour, or from a Category 1 to 5 typhoon, in just 24 hours.

Urgent needs are food and non-food items, clean water and sanitation facilities, shelter, hygiene kits, medical supplies, and restoration of livelihoods. Many of the affected provinces are islands, which presents particular challenges: Transport infrastructure including ports, ferry docks, and runways, and power and information and telecommunication infrastructure have been destroyed; and the resulting lack of access and communication challenges have complicated the relief and recovery efforts. In addition to the immediate needs, medium-term recovery needs include the rebuilding of homes and community infrastructure, restoration of electricity and water and sanitation infrastructure, and support for damaged businesses and agriculture.

On 21 December 2021, President Rodrigo Duterte declared a state of calamity in areas affected by Typhoon Odette (Mimaropa - Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas, Northern Mindanao, and CARAGA). The government, through the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Defense, and Department of Finance (DOF), is leading the humanitarian response with support from UN agencies, civil society organizations (CSOs), private sector, and other development and humanitarian partners in the country. The government's work focuses on overall management of the evacuation, evacuation facilities, transportation of more vulnerable affected groups to the evacuation facilities, removal of debris, provision of essential services to the affected population, rehabilitation of damaged infrastructure, and provision of medical services. DSWD reported that, as of 29 January 2022, a total of Php1 billion ($19.89 million) worth of assistance has been provided to affected families through pooled funds from DSWD, local government units, CSOs, and other partners (of which, Php757.5 million from DSWD). Standby funds from the Quick Response Fund are available in the amount of Php1.18 billion ($23.17 million) at the DSWD-Central Office and Php73.95 million ($1.45 million) at DSWD-Field Offices.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council preliminarily estimated the damage to housing, agriculture, and infrastructure as Php24,612 million or nearly $500 million equivalent. Underlying development challenges such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, poverty and unemployment, severity of the catastrophe, exposure to new typhoons, and lack of a disaster risk reduction system in the most affected areas exacerbate the situation. Moreover, access to affected areas for the delivery of humanitarian relief is inhibited by extensive damage to public infrastructure, including for transport, energy, and information and communication technology. The extent of the damage caused by Typhoon Odette is of a scale beyond the existing capacity and already stretched resources of the government to restore life-saving services to the affected population in the short and medium term. While the government continues to mobilize its own resources, there is a need to supplement them with additional resources from development partners.

The Government of the Philippines requested support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) under the Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund (APDRF) on 31 January 2022. Based on identified needs, a proposed grant of $2 million from the APDRF is expected to help restore urgent life-saving services, including to provide typhoon-affected people in the provinces of Visayas and Mindanao with food, including food vouchers and humanitarian logistics support to deliver food assistance.

Restore urgent life-saving services disrupted by extensive damages from the typhoon

Provide typhoon-affected people in the provinces of Visayas and Mindanao with food, including food vouchers and humanitarian logistics support to deliver food assistance