The Philippines is one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries. Its islands are frequently impacted by natural disasters like earthquakes, floods and typhoons.
As the 10th anniversary of the Philippines’ worst natural disaster, Typhoon Haiyan – known locally as Super Typhoon Yolanda – approaches, the Australian Embassy hosted a humanitarian and disaster relief (HADR) tabletop exercise in HMAS Canberra as part of Indo-Pacific Endeavour.
Thanh Le, Australia’s Counsellor for Development in the Philippines, is an expert in humanitarian assistance.
In 2013, Mr Le led Australia’s response to Typhoon Haiyan. He said the scenario in Canberra was about understanding how Australia can better prepare to support the Philippines’ emergency management systems ahead of the next ‘big one’.
“The exercise was about bringing civilian and military experts from both countries together to collaborate on reducing the Philippines’ vulnerability to disasters,” Mr Le said.
“We cannot stop a disaster from coming. But Australia can help mitigate the effect using our on-call HADR capability, including Defence assets like HMAS Canberra.
“Activities like this allow the Australian Government to think through, ‘What support could Australia provide the Philippines in response to this kind of disaster? How much time would it take to launch an amphibious response? What resources would we need?’
“It also allows our Philippines counterparts to consider how best to coordinate and receive assistance.”
The Australian Government was among the first to respond to the Philippines’ request for humanitarian assistance in the aftermath of the Typhoon Haiyan. It was a gesture of ‘bayanihan’ – the Tagalog word for mateship – still remembered by many Filipinos.
Mariel Eduarte is a Filipina who has worked for the Australian Embassy in the Philippines for more than 10 years.
She remembers the chaos following Typhoon Haiyan and said participating in the activity reminded her of the two countries’ strong people-to-people bonds and resilience.
“I remember being gathered together at the embassy, waiting for word from local partners who were prepositioned on the ground,” Ms Eduarte said.
“Communications were down, so it was 12 hours before we heard about the scale of devastation, and how even the first responders were swept up in the storm surge.
“Listening to the speakers at the HADR workshop was like a rip in time. We discussed lessons learned from Haiyan. Ten years ago, we were on the ground coordinating the disaster response.
“It was inspiring to see the frank discussion unfold between officials committed to learning from each other and laying the foundations for quick cooperation when disaster strikes.
“The appreciation and gratitude of Filipinos for Australia’s early assistance runs deep. We have much more to do but we are driven to continue the work, and know Australia stands ready to help when needed.”
