Philippines launches US$8b plan to rebuild lives shattered by Haiyan
Appeal for foreign and private-sector aid to help homeless, and strengthen defences
The Philippine government launched an US$8.17 billion plan on Wednesday to rebuild the lives of millions battered by Super Typhoon Haiyan.
President Benigno Aquino appealed for international assistance and private sector pledges to help his government rehabilitate hundreds of devastated communities and increase their resilience to natural disasters as well as the adverse impacts of climate change.
“The task immediately before us lies in ensuring that the communities that rise again do so stronger, better and more resilient than before,” he told foreign diplomats and aid officials in a speech at the launch of the initiative.
“Every dollar of funding assistance will be used in as efficient and as lasting a manner as possible,” he pledged.
Haiyan left nearly 8,000 people dead or missing after it struck the central islands on November 8, wrecking more than a million houses with 315 kilometres per hour winds and giant tsunami-like waves created by storm surges.
Aquino said the typhoon, one of the strongest to ever hit land and already the second-deadliest natural disaster in the history of the storm-prone Philippines, caused US$12.9 billion in damage and destruction.
