Timor-Leste is seeking the Philippines’ assistance to enhance its disaster risk reduction and management (DRRM) capabilities, its state representative said.
“We asked the assistance of the UN as well as we discussed with the Philippine authority to see how they could help Timor-Leste to establish some of the systems like the early warning systems, the four [thematic] pillars, detecting, monitoring,” Marciano Octavio Garcia Da Silva, Resident Ambassador-Designate of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste to the Philippines stated during a visit to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD).
The delegation included notable officials such as the Honorable President Jesuino dos Reis de Matos Carvalho of the Timor-Leste Civil Protection Authority, Disaster Risk Management Advisor to the President Grace Endina, National Director of Resource Management Virgilio dos Santos Soares, Commander Fernando da Costa, Director of External Relations and Communication Cesario da Silva Marques, and Director of Strategic Planning and Advisory Paulo Soares Exposto.
On Friday, Timor-Leste’s delegation met with officials from the OCD for a knowledge-sharing session. OCD representatives provided an overview of the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management System and discussed the National DRRM Operations Center. Civil Defense Deputy Administrators Assistant Secretary Hernando Caraig Jr. and Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV welcomed the delegates and participated in the discussions.
