The Philippines yearly loses millions of dollars in direct damage to properties, livelihood and crops due to climate-related natural disasters, according to a senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).
Danilo C. Israel said in a paper posted on the PIDS website that from 1990 to 2009, the Philippines suffered $4.813 billion in direct damage, or an average of $240.7 million per year, due to weather and climate-related disasters.
In the decade starting 2000, total losses from damage were placed at $2.121 billion, lower than the total damage of $2.602 billion in the 1990s.
There was also indirect damage, such as the impact of agricultural damage on other sectors of the economy through increases in the prices of goods and services. Forms of indirect damage, whenever possible, will also have to be accounted for. However, the available secondary data on economic damage available at present only reflect direct damage and thus, the figures presented below are only the conservative estimates of the total damage.
Based on direct damage alone, while the occurrence of weather and climate-related disasters in the Philippines increased from the 1990s to the 2000s, it did not bring about a corresponding rise in the value of the damage.
The losses arising from the damage included only direct damage of weather and climate-related disasters and would rise if the indirect damage was considered.
“Even with just the current results, the (forms of) economic damage are clearly substantial and should be a cause of concern. In particular, the value of average annual economic damage of $240.7 million for the 1990–2009 period translates to about P11.193 billion at the current dollar to peso exchange rate, which is clearly a significant amount,” he said.
Israel recommended more accurate and timely weather forecasting and information dissemination to curb the negative impacts of weather and climate-related disasters.
“This would allow the government and population to effectively respond to weather and climate-related natural disasters and minimize their otherwise highly significant negative impacts,” he said.
He also recommended fostering regional cooperation with the Philippines’ neighboring countries, including subregional weather forecasting, since some types of disasters such as typhoons have transboundary implications.
This way, the Philippines could benefit from more advanced weather forecasting technologies and risk management strategies that its neighbors may have.
Israel also cited the Senate Economic Planning Office’s inclusion in its preliminary list of proposed legislative reforms the passing of the Pagasa Modernization Act. Pagasa, the state weather bureau, stands for Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
This potential law will seek to appropriate funds for the purchase of new equipment and staff training and education, among others.
Israel said this should be given priority by legislators as inaction would just ensure the occurrence of another significant disaster anytime soon.
“Since serious disasters can still occur even with accurate forecasts, as recently shown by typhoon Juan, it would serve the country well if the overall disaster management during and after the actual event of disaster is greatly improved,” Israel added.
