13 November 2013 –Members of the ASEAN Connectivity Coordinating Committee (ACCC) conveyed their condolences and expressions of sympathy on behalf of their respective countries for the victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) at the start of the meeting on ASEAN Connectivity held in Bali, Indonesia from November 12 to 14. Participants offered a minute of silence and prayer for the victims.
Philippine Permanent Representative to ASEAN and ACCC member Elizabeth P. Buensuceso acknowledged the expressions of sympathy and conveyed her gratefulness for the assistance that ASEAN Member States (AMS) and Dialogue Partners have pledged to send to the Philippines to help in relief efforts.
“Each of us profess different faiths as we all stood in a minute of prayer, but I truly feel that we stood as one ASEAN. This is how ASEAN should always be,” an emotional Ambassador Buensuceso said as she expressed deep gratitude to the ASEAN member states and their Dialogue Partners (DP) who shared condolences, sympathies and pledges to send support or whose countries are already on the scene. She said that in the midst of the misery and the tragic individual stories, the thought that friends in ASEAN and its Dialogue Partners are with the Philippines in these difficult times, is comforting and gives reason for the Philippines to hope
Earlier this week, ASEAN Secretary General Le Luong Minh sent a formal letter to Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. Del Rosario expressing his “sadness and concern” at the damage and loss caused by Haiyan. The Secretary General further informed Secretary Del Rosario that as Coordinator for the ASEAN Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Center), they “stand ready to facilitate ASEAN cooperation and coordination” in response to the aftermath of Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan).
The AHA Center held an Executive Briefing for ASEAN Diplomats on 11 November at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta to outline the efforts undertaken by the Center in response to Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). The Center continues to coordinate with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRMMC) through its Emergency Rapid Assessment Teams (ERAT) deployed in Manila and Tacloban, and prepared administrative arrangements for relief deployment.
The ASEAN Committee of Permanent Representatives, the ASEAN Foundation and other ASEAN organs have also sent messages of sympathy for the Philippines.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Mission to ASEAN is coordinating with concerned bodies on how to send their cash and other donations for the victims.
Individual ASEAN member countries and Dialogue Partners have already sent or are in the process of rushing help to the Philippines. These countries include Australia, Brunei, Canada, the European Union, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Thailand, the United States and Vietnam. END
