Ambassador to the Philippines Philip Goldberg. PHOTO FROM STATE.GOV
MANILA, Philippines—United States Ambassador to Manila Philip S. Goldberg described as “very commendable” the Philippine government’s preparations for Typhoon “Ruby,” the strongest typhoon to hit the country so far this year.
“We were very impressed with the response (of the Philippine government to Typhoon Ruby), the coordination with the international community, the organization of the government to plan ahead (and) the evacuations done in Samar. [They were] very commendable,” Goldberg told reporters on Friday.
Ruby (international name: “Hagupit”) barreled through the country over the weekend, and left 19 people dead and over 900 injured, a far cry from the casualties of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: “Haiyan”) that left at least 6,200 dead, 1,000 missing, and 28,000 injured. Yolanda, described one of the strongest typhoons in history, unleashed its fury in central Philippines in November last year.
Goldberg credited the government for learning from Yolanda.
“(A)nd that’s what a good government does. Good governance is about learning from what happened before and putting in place measures so it might not happen again,” the ambassador said.
The US envoy said other countries gained new insights from Yolanda as well in terms of responding to areas deemed most vulnerable to calamities.
Goldberg said the United States had positioned some of its military personnel currently stationed in the Philippines in areas along typhoon Ruby’s path so they could immediately be summoned for humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
While Ruby was not as devastating as had been feared, the US ambassador said “there (was) still [relief] work to be done,” with the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance pledging $750,000 in typhoon relief to areas affected by Ruby.
Goldberg also presented the US Secretary of State’s Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE) to Coca-Cola Philippines for its post-Yolanda response as well as for its continuing rehabilitation initiatives during ceremonies held in Pasay City also on Friday.