LA TRINIDAD, Benguet?An assessment team led by the Asian Development Bank found the Cordillera, particularly Benguet, as severely damaged by Typhoon "Pepeng" but urged local officials to follow the international standards of assessing typhoon-related losses.

The method of preparing damage reports would be crucial in convincing the World Bank and its partners to initiate a multilateral bid for the rehabilitation of areas that were hit hard by the typhoon, said Ki Hee Ryu, the team leader.

In a briefing held here on Thursday, Ki's team said the assessment's presentation must be patterned after the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UNECLAC) method of reporting used in the two regions.

The team told Gov. Nestor Fongwan that the reports must quantify "direct" and "indirect" losses and identify which are considered as "losses" and which are "damages."

The UNECLAC said the damage reports should follow the method so the WB could easily appreciate and assess the information.
Ki's team, which was formed by the WB and ADB to assess typhoon-related damage in the Cordillera, visited the landslide-hit areas of Atok, La Trinidad, Tublay and Itogon towns recently.

Ki is the project administration unit head of the agriculture, environment and natural resources division of the ADB's Southeast Asia department.

He was accompanied by representatives from the WB, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Agriculture, provincial government and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples.

The team said the members were tasked to visit the typhoon-damaged areas after the government asked WB for assistance.

Ki said the results of the team's findings would be given to the WB which would discuss what measures would be taken with its partners?the ADB, European Commission, United Nations Development Program, Food and Agricultural Organization, other UN agencies and private banks and institutions.

During the briefing, however, Fongwan and other local officials sought to clarify what the team meant by "direct" and "indirect" losses.

Ki said "damages" must be used to describe destroyed infrastructure while "losses" must be used to describe lost productivity.

He said "direct losses" would refer to actual damage to crops and infrastructure caused by Pepeng while "indirect losses" referred to prospective losses or lost opportunity.

Fongwan and Cesar Rodriguez, DA regional director, asked the team to place a footnote in their assessment report about the need to immediately repair damaged farm-to-market roads.

"The roads are needed to transport farmers' harvests to the market," Rodriguez said.

Fongwan said the reporting method that Ki suggested would not immediately reflect the areas that needed immediate relief and rehabilitation.

"These roads are their lifeline," he said.

The ADB team said it would consider the data provided by the provincial disaster coordinating council (PDCC) and National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).

Ki said after the report on losses and damage has been submitted to the WB, a team would again visit Benguet to assess the needed assistance.

"What we did is damage and loss assessment. Another team will conduct the needs assessment," he said.

The DA said the Cordillera posted P1.4-billion damage in crops and infrastructure.

Ki considered typhoon-related damages in Benguet, which was hit by massive landslides, as severe that needed immediate attention.

"There is much damage in the province. I consider it severe," he told the INQUIRER.

He said the assessment report would be the WB's basis for short-, medium- and long-term rehabilitation plans.