Students use their notebooks and hands to cover their heads during nationwide earthquake drills at Paranaque National High School in Baclaran, Paranaque city, metro Manila October 14, 2009.[Agencies]
MANILA, Philippines: The Philippines will be seeking at least $1 billion from international donors for reconstruction after devastating back-to-back storms highlighted the country's vulnerability to climate change, officials said Wednesday.
|
Students use their notebooks and hands to cover their heads during nationwide earthquake drills at Paranaque National High School in Baclaran, Paranaque city, metro Manila October 14, 2009.[Agencies]
|
"The underlying doctrine is that the Philippines is a victim of climate change, not a culprit," President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo told an economic briefing for investors and diplomats.
She blamed extreme weather for the worst flooding in 40 years that struck the rice-growing northern Philippines late last month when a typhoon after a storm dumped heavy rains that triggered landslides and inundated towns.
The government said the donor conference may take place in late November or early December, after the UN and the World Bank assess total damage from the storms.
Finance Secretary Margarito Teves said a World Bank team would be arriving in the Philippines within a month. World Bank President Robert Zoellick said October 2 the lender was ready to assist governments hit by the typhoons.
The Philippines was looking for grants to fund reconstruction, followed by concessional loans and commercial borrowings, Arroyo said. The Philippine reconstruction commission may recommend issuing of special bonds to fund the project, she said.
Damage caused by the storms may shave 0.3 to 0.4 percentage points from the country's gross domestic product, which is projected to grow between 0.8 percent and 1.8 percent this year, Teves said.
Remittances from Filipinos working abroad, projected to rise 4 percent this year to $17.1 billion, could counter the losses, Teves said. The money sent home by 10 million overseas workers is the driving force behind domestic spending, which is the backbone of the economy.