PH to Receive $2 Million Grant From ADB For Odette Relief Operations

The Philippine government is set to receive a $2 million grant from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to continue the emergency response and humanitarian efforts to areas in Visayas and Mindanao that were struck by typhoon Odette late last December. Odette (international name Rai) was considered to be the strongest typhoon in the country in 2021.

Following the typhoon’s landfall, telecommunications and power lines were downed and houses were destroyed alongside businesses and other infrastructures. The ADB grant, which comes from the lender’s Asia Pacific Disaster Response Fund, aims to provide assistance to 15,000 households or approximately 75,000 individuals in the form of food vouchers, and logistics support for food delivery and assistance.

“Typhoon Odette’s damage on housing, agriculture, and infrastructure amid the COVID-19 pandemic has made life more difficult for Filipinos in affected areas,” elaborated Ramesh Subramaniam, ADB Director General for Southeast Asia. The ADB will be partnering with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) to distribute food assistance to the affected communities.

“This assistance will help finance the humanitarian needs of those residents, especially people living in remote areas,” added Subramaniam. Thousands of locals across eight Visayas provinces were displaced after typhoon Odette hit, and more than 1.7 million houses were devastated.

The damage caused by typhoon Odette to agriculture, public infrastructure, and private property is estimated to be around ₱24.6 billion or close to $500 million, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC). It hit the provinces of Surigao del Norte, Dinagat Islands, Southern Leyte, Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, and Palawan causing over 400 deaths before exiting the Philippines.

Sources: PhilStar, ABS CBN