Asean disaster response warehouse launched in Camp Aguinaldo

Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana (center) attends the launching of the Asean disaster response warehouse in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City., (Photo from the Japanese Embassy)

MANILA, Philippines — A new satellite warehouse aimed at allowing swift mobilization and distribution of relief items to disaster-hit member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) was launched on Monday at Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.

The facility at the AFP Logistics Command will be managed by the Asean Coordinating Center for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management and the Philippines’ National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC).

The warehouse will hold a stockpile of various emergency items — such as first aid kits and building tools — that will be distributed in post-disaster emergency situations.

“In the past, we were caught unaware, we didn’t have preparations. We don’t have stockpiles of food and materials like these, so we had to exert a lot of time to gather these things before we can attend the victims of disasters,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana told reporters.

“Now, you can just load these on the airplane and bring them to the disaster area,” he said.

Other satellite warehouses are located in Thailand and Malaysia.

“The aim of prepositioning of Asean relief items in strategically located warehouses is to increase the speed and scale of an Asean response,” the NDRRMC press statement said.

(Editor: Alexander T. Magno)