TACLOBAN
CITY, April 28 (PNA) -- United Nations (UN) put Tacloban as the template of one
of the most successful recoveries in a disaster the world has to see.
According to
City Mayor Alfred Romualdez, former US Vice President Al Gore and UN Secretary
General Ban Ki-moon agreed that what happened in the city was a wakeup call for
the world.
Romualdez
attended a gathering dubbed as “An Annotated Programme: Taking Climate Action
to the Next Level (Realizing the Vision of the Paris Agreement)” sponsored by
the UN at their Headquarters in New York City on April 22.
“How we
performed, how we reacted and how we handled the situation was critical and I’m
quite happy when I heard the feedback from many head of states and how proud
they are as how the people of Tacloban stood together,” Romualdez said.
In the four
thematic sessions, Romualdez emphasized the importance of national and
sub-national collaboration.
“Since
cities are often on the frontline of dealing with the impacts of climate
change, national responses to building climate change resilience must ensure
effective collaboration between national and sub-national levels if they are to
be efficient and effective,” he said.
Romualdez
was the only Asian and the only city mayor who joined the gathering.
Specifically, he spoke on “strengthening resilience to climate impacts to
protect the most vulnerable.”
Meanwhile,
Romualdez said that despite the rigors of campaign, he will remain focused, do
things rights, and help people towards full recovery after the 2013 super
typhoon battered the city. The mayor will end his nine-year term as city’s
chief executive on June 30, 2016.
He’s not
running for any elective position, but actively campaigning for his wife as the
next mayor and other members of the Romualdez clan, seeking senatorial and
congressional posts.
PGL/SQM/LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA/EGR
No comments:
Post a Comment