CFE supports U.S., USPACOM during Bilateral Standing Committee Meeting in the Philippines
03.13.2014
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii, March 13, 2014 – Mara Langevin, a disaster management and humanitarian assistance advisor with the Center for Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance, attended a U.S.-Philippine bilateral Standing Committee Meeting on Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, Philippines March 3 – 6 in order to co-chair the humanitarian assistance and disaster response working group.
The meeting was hosted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and led by Commodore Rafael G. Mariano of the AFP and U.S. Navy Capt. Gregory St. Pierre of U.S. Pacific Command.
Langevin and the HADR working group were tasked with developing the AFP-U.S. humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) areas of cooperation that include building capacity, training major military units on disaster risk reduction and improving communication between AFP and U.S. military units during disaster response.
“Overall, the group was able to work through the next five years of bilateral engagements and ensure that the U.S. and AFP are in sync and meeting one another’s intended objectives,” said Langevin.
Additionally, AFP Lt. Col. Benedict M. Arevalo, of the AFP planning office and co-chair or the HADR working group, gave a presentation on the AFP perspective of the lessons learned from typhoon Haiyan.
“The colonel gave a frank and honest presentation that accurately depicted the successes and challenges of the AFP during Yolanda’s response,” said Langevin.
During the presentation, key points made by Arevalo included the AFP’s limited understanding of the affects of storm surge and need to train as if they are facing a worse-case scenario. He also made the suggestion that unified commands should be assigned to respond to disaster areas outside their traditional area of responsibility to ensure mission focus, but commended the Philippine Government’s timely declaration of a state of national calamity that promoted an early response from the international community.
Armed Forces of the Philippines Commodore Rafael G. Mariano (right) and U.S. Navy Capt. Gregory St. Pierre of U.S. Pacific Command co-chaired the Philippines Standing Committee Meeting on Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, Philippines March 3 – 6. The meeting provided an opportunity to improve bilateral cooperation between the two nations in regards to disaster management and humanitarian preparedness.