AN ACT STRENGTHENING THE PHILIPPINE DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, PROVIDING FOR THE NATIONAL DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK AND INSTITUTIONALIZING THE NATIONAL DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND MANAGEMENT PLAN, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.

• Disaster Risk Reduction Management Act of 2010

The eighth meeting of Regional Consultative Committee (RCC-8) on Disaster Management was held from 22 to 24 February at the Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila in Ortigas, Quezon City, Philippines, with the special theme on "Implementing National Programs on Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction in High Risk Communities". RCC-8 was jointly hosted by the Office of the Civil Defense, National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), Philippines and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), with support from the Australian Government Overseas Aid Program.

Reviewing progress of implementing the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015 (HFA), which was adopted at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction in 2005, is one of the key agendas of the eighth RCC meeting. Continuing challenges and priorities for the years to come will be discussed as well. The meeting will also look into the progress of “Mainstreaming disaster risk reduction (DRR) into development” which ADPC has been strongly advocating. Given that the region is prone to major natural hazards and recently experienced numerous major disasters, it would be essential to observe what are the lessons learned and how each government has been dealing with post-disaster situation. Government of China, Indonesia, Myanmar and Pakistan will provide examples of post-disaster response and changes in DRR systems.

October 2009 – The Philippines and the European Union (EU) met in Manila for the 2nd round of negotiations on a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) that will serve as the general framework of relations between the Republic of the Philippines and the EU.

This second round of negotiations was held from 6 to 7 October. In addition to pursuing discussions on all areas of cooperation, both parties agreed to cooperate on issues such as disaster risk management, the peace process, internally displaced person (IDPs) and development aspects of migration.

The European Commission this week approved a grant of €7.0 million (approx PhP 490 million) in humanitarian assistance for the victims of Tropical Storm Ondoy and Typhoon Pepeng in the Philippines. This is additional to the €2.0 million EC grant approved already on 29 September, and brings EC funding for Ondoy and Pepeng victims to €9.0 million (approx PhP 630 million).