ASEAN SG Visits Typhoon-Ravaged Communities in Philippines

In his capacity as ASEAN Humanitarian Assistance Coordinator, Secretary-General Le Luong Minh visited the Philippines on November 20 to personally convey ASEAN’s solidarity with the Filipino people and showed the Association’s support to typhoon-ravaged communities.

 

SG Minh’s first stop was in Manila, where he met with relevant government officials. The ASEAN Secretary-General briefed them on ASEAN’s response thus far to the emergency and recovery efforts taking place in affected towns and villages in central Philippines which bored the brunt of super typhoon Haiyan. He then flew to Tacloban and visited affected communities in the city and also showed his support to individuals and organisations providing relief and assistance on the ground.

 

A team of humanitarian response specialists from ASEAN had been operating in the Philippines since the day before typhoon Haiyan struck the country to facilitate the Association’s response. Through the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre), ASEAN had been facilitating the provision of regional humanitarian assistance as well as relieved assistance from Member States to the Philippines.