Tag: Amb. Romulo
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The ultimate vaccine: A resilient health care system
Source: The Philippine Star – Filipino Worldview | Author: Ambassador Roberto R. Romulo | Date: May 8, 2020 Former health secretary Dr. Esperanza Cabral compels us to think beyond today’s crisis. Scientists predict a second wave. The development of a cure and a vaccine for the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 is going to take time. Even…
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Quarantine extended
Source: The Philippine Star – Filipino Worldview | Author: Ambassador Roberto R. Romulo | Date: May 1, 2020 President Duterte has extended the enhanced community quarantine to May 15. Despite sentiments of some including LGUs and businessmen, he personally listened to experts, scientists, and former secretaries of health before he agreed with the IATF. In general,…
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Aftermath of earthquakes: Immediate focus
By Amb. Roberto R. Romulo The recent conference on “Megacities at risk: Engineering resilience to seismic hazards” by sheer coincidence took place a few days after the magnitude 6.1 earthquake that shook Central Luzon, followed by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake with the epicenter this time in Samar. No doubt this made more topical and urgent…
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The shock of earthquakes
By Amb. Roberto R. Romulo It is pure coincidence that our conference on “Megacities at Risk” takes place two days after the Zambales earthquake which affected Metro Manila. Personally, I was just as shocked as the rest of Manila. Many hotels, apartments and office buildings had evacuation procedures in place and they should be commended. …
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Lessons from Typhoon Ompong
By Amb. Roberto R. Romulo Of the 95 fatalities so far reported as a direct result of Typhoon Ompong that slammed into Northern Luzon last week, 16 people perished from the wind and flooding that it brought. The majority of those who perished – 79 so far – was the result of a landslide that…
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Huge step towards disaster resilience
By Amb. Roberto R. Romulo President Duterte’s earnest call for Congress to pass a law creating a Department of Disaster Resilience during his 3rd State of the Nation Address (SONA) is hopefully the start of a serious effort to address our country’s inadequate disaster management capabilities. The President had made a similar call in his…
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A resilient PHL
In the past many believed: “On the uncertainties that mother nature ordains, there is not much we can do other than cope with them”. Today, I have asked Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, the President of the National Resilience Council, a public- private science technology based partnership to write about how to achieve resilience.
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Consolidating resilience endeavors
By Amb. Roberto R. Romulo I begin this column by quoting Mrs. Toni Yulo-Loyzaga, Chairperson of the International Advisory Board, Manila Observatory: “The Sendai Framework on Disaster Risk Reduction (SFDRR) identified four priorities: Understanding risk, Strengthening disaster risk governance, Investing in disaster risk reduction for resilience, and, Enhancing preparedness for effective response to build back …
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Earthquakes: Are we prepared?
By Amb. Roberto R. Romulo The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council has enhanced their capability substantially since Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda. On the other hand, the private sector pioneered by the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF) led by Manuel V. Pangilinan and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala has also done an extremely credible job. Yet neither…