MANILA, Philippines – On the 11th anniversary of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said his government “fully assumes” responsibility for “all unfulfilled commitments” made toward rehabilitation in affected areas.

“All unfulfilled commitments made in the past for Yolanda rehabilitation are responsibilities we fully assume,” Marcos said in a statement on Friday, November 8.

He added, “Though no singular fault of anyone, many of these pledges remain unredeemed, and we shall see to it that what the state owed to impacted people and places will be satisfactorily settled.”

Yolanda, one of the deadliest typhoons in recorded history, claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions from their homes when it made landfall 11 years ago, on November 8, 2013.

In the wake of the super typhoon, Marcos, then a senator, had criticized the Aquino administration for its slow rehabilitation program for Yolanda victims.

Ten years later in 2023, Marcos as president resurrected the issue of possible underreporting of Yolanda’s death toll.

Rappler’s investigation in 2023 revealed that after a decade, around 15% of target housing sites intended for Yolanda survivors were incomplete, while thousands were unoccupied. Many of the housing sites also had electricity and water issues.

Learning from Yolanda

Marcos’ statement on Friday comes on the heels of Severe Tropical Storm Kristine (Trami), Super Typhoon Leon (Kong-Rey), and Typhoon Marce (Yinxing), which affected millions of people in Luzon combined in the last three weeks.

Some of the most affected areas include the Bicol region and Batangas (Kristine), Batanes (Leon), and Cagayan (Marce).

“Our ongoing crucibles remind us that the powerful lessons brought by the strongest typhoon in history should not be lost with the passage of time. Heeding these is the best way to honor the lives lost,” the President said.

Marcos said the country must “intensify” its efforts to mitigate and adapt to climate change and reduce its vulnerability to disasters.

The World Risk Index 2023 placed the Philippines as the country with the highest disaster risk worldwide.

The President also emphasized the need to empower communities and local governments. Localizing disaster risk reduction remains a key challenge in the country and the Asia-Pacific region, top officials said at a regional conference last month.

Marcos thanked the international community for its support to the country during times of disaster.

“Their response reaffirmed a tenet civilization must uphold when one nation faces an emergency or an existential threat — that no man is an island, indeed,” he added.

The 11th anniversary of Yolanda also comes days before the United Nations Climate Change Conference or COP29 happening in Baku, Azerbaijan. Nearly 200 countries are set to discuss climate finance, fossil fuel transition, and money for loss and damage among other top agenda items in the annual climate talks. – Rappler.com