MANILA, Philippines — In a bid to minimize the impact of disasters, Senator Edgardo Angara called on the delegates at the 20th Annual Meeting of the Asia Pacific Parliamentary Forum (APPF) to intensify regional cooperation and coordination in disaster management.

In his speech before the APFF delegates in Tokyo, Angara stressed the importance of regional cooperation in managing disasters such as typhoons and cyclones to further improve the country’s disaster management capabilities considering that an average of 20 storms visit the Philippines every year.

The Philippine delegation to the APPF headed by Sen. Franklin Drilon, Angara, Reps. Victor Ortega and Rene Relapagos, are in Tokyo until January 12 to participate in the conference that brings together parliamentarians from Asia-Pacific region to discuss regional politics and security, economy and trade and inter-regional cooperation. It is hosted this year by the National Diet of Japan.

“Regional cooperation has an important role to play in the initial assessment of cyclones passing through respective areas of responsibility whether the storm makes landfall, as well as the changes in strength and direction caused by storm’s passage through a country, said Angara before an audience of lawmakers from 19 different countries.

He noted that most of the typhoons that visit the Philippines make landfall, intensify and then proceed to other countries. This shows regional cooperation with other affected neighboring countries such as Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Hawaii, Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries will be extremely valuable.

Based on a report from Center for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters, 61 countries experienced a natural disaster in 2011, with 12 of these or 10 percent happening in the Philippines.

The Senator also lauded Japan’s example in this area and urged other delegates to invest in risk management mechanisms.

“As Japan has demonstrated, there is no better remedy to a natural disaster than preparedness. We may always try to contain, avoid or mitigate their strength but the wrath of nature will always inflict societal and financial costs. Those costs, and not the disaster themselves, can be mitigated if not avoided. Investing in these risk management mechanisms must always be a priority,” Angara said.

In the Philippines, Angara, through the Congressional Commission on Science and Technology and Engineering (COMSTE), has initiated the creation of a Disaster Risks Management Center to be located in Aurora province, a common entry point of storms.

The Center will provide training for disaster risk reduction to local officials and school executives, and front line national efforts in building institutional capacity for integrated and multidisciplinary research and active collaboration among members in building institutional capacity for integrated and multi-disciplinary research and active collaboration among members of the Philippine and international research community, particularly the International Center for Theoretical Physics (ICTP), United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and the Hyogo Disaster Management Center.