Asia-Pacific disaster exercise kicks off in Philippines+

MANILA, May 4 Kyodo - Emergency officials from the Asia-Pacific region will spend this week testing how to react to a major natural disaster during a five-day exercise that began Monday.

Twenty of the 27 member-countries of the ASEAN Regional Forum sent rescue
workers and officials to Manila to take part in the disaster exercise ''ARF -
Voluntary Demonstration of Response'' that will test the region's preparedness
should a super typhoon hit the Philippines.
The nearly 600 participants will rescue people aboard a ship that supposedly
sank off Manila Bay, set up temporary medical facilities and build schoolrooms
and bridges and disaster officials will practice damage assessment.
The ARF, whose core members include the 10 ASEAN countries and the United
States, was established in 1994 to promote dialogue and cooperation on regional
security issues.
The VDR is the first field exercise since ARF was established.
Organizers said they hope to harmonize the responses and build more confidence
among ARF members.
Philippine Foreign Undersecretary Enrique Manalo said the emergence of
nontraditional and transnational security challenges such as terrorism, drug
trafficking, human smuggling, communicable diseases and natural disasters has
enlarged the focus of ARF.
Initially foreseen as an instrument to address existing and emerging disputes
between member countries, he said ARF has now become ''significantly relevant''
in both conflict and non-conflict situations.
''Being the very first field exercise under the ARF framework, the VDR brings a
new chapter in the development of the ARF. The actual demonstration and
operation of our capacities in this exercise elevates our partnership to a new
level of practical cooperation,'' Manalo said.
He added the recent major disasters that hit the region, including the 2004
Indian Ocean tsunami, flash floods in Bangladesh, the Sichuan earthquake in
China, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and Typhoon Frank in the Philippines, have
shown the need to further develop the ARF's quick-response mechanism.
''We saw in these events the challenge of establishing a sound and organized
system of coordinating and aligning each donor's assistance and relief,''
Manalo said.
He added, ''A multifaceted (approach), strengthened by collaboration,
cooperation and coherence, would enable our regional community to better
respond to and aid countries affected and ravaged by natural disasters.''
One of the highlights of the exercise is the participation of a Japanese-made
US-2 search and rescue amphibian aircraft to be used for plucking people from
the water and bringing them to safety.
Japan sent a total of 80 participants to the exercise, including 12 medical
workers.
They also brought the amphibian aircraft, two C-130 cargo planes and a maritime
open-water search and rescue pontoon aircraft for use during the exercise.
''We feel that it is very important for Japan to work together with ASEAN
countries to craft countermeasures for disasters,'' Japan's vice defense
minister, Nobuo Kishi, told Kyodo News.
Kishi said Japan is looking forward to more active participation in similar ARF
activities in the future.
U.S. Ambassador to ASEAN Scot Marciel welcomed Japan's active role, saying
Japan is a big player in the region and has significant resources.
''It has put a lot of effort into disaster relief search and rescue for many
years, and we saw that today and we surely welcome their significant
participation,'' Marciel said.
The ARF comprises the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations
-- Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines,
Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam -- plus Australia, Canada, the European Union,
New Zealand, the United States, Russia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Pakistan,
North Korea, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Mongolia, Bangladesh, Japan, China, and
India.