Duty-free access to US of products from areas hit by ‘Yolanda’ pushed

Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia Jr. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine Embassy in the United States (US) is pushing for  duty-free access of products produced from areas devastated by supertyphoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan) to help in their recovery.

“Similar to what the United States did following the Haiti earthquake, the Philippines is looking at possible trade preference for products from Haiyan-affected areas,” Philippines Ambassador to the US Jose Cuisia Jr. said in a convention in Washington, D.C.

The arrangement looks for “duty-free access for a limited period of time for a limited number of products coming from the affected areas.”

Yolanda destroyed homes and livelihood in cities and provinces across the Visayas region particularly in Samar and Leyte where the storm first made landfall.

More than 6,000 people have been killed while millions were displaced by the fierce winds and storm surges.

The damage wrought by Yolanda is estimated to be more than $12.9 million.

“There is much work to be done, and in the spirit of the alliance and partnership we have shared, we continue to count on your invaluable assistance,” Cuisia said.

“At this point, it is apparent that recovery and rehabilitation will not be easy, and there are very real and substantive challenges ahead,” he said.

The forum entitled “US Response to Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines” was hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and American pharmaceutical company Abbott.