The Deputy Prime Minister of Mongolia and the ambassador of Timor-Leste to the Philippines praised the country’s disaster management efforts.

Mongolian Deputy Prime Minister Sainbuyan Amarsaikhan discussed with the Office of the Civil Defense (OCD) the strategies, operations, and methodologies in handling disaster situations.

“We appreciate the government of the Philippines in sharing strategies to reduce the [disaster] risk,” Amarsaikhan said.

The deputy prime minister expressed his gratitude in the “very valuable” meeting with the OCD officials as it fueled their strategies and financing strategies in providing tools and other essential equipment to the countries in need.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga also received praise for their risk reduction strategies.

Amarsikhan said that the disaster risks can be lessened by intensifying collaborations and cooperation.

Aside from Amarsikhan, the ambassador of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste to the Philippines, Marciano Octavio Garcia Da Silva, also visited the OCD as they sought assistance in bolstering their disaster reduction efforts.

“We asked the assistance of the UN as well as we discussed with the Philippine authority to see how they could help Timor Leste to establish some of the systems, like the early warning systems,” Da Silva said.

With the Philippines and Timor-Leste being prone to different natural disasters, Da Silva aims to learn about the disaster reduction efforts of the Philippines, especially in saving lives and lessening the effects of certain disasters.

Da Silva and the rest of his Timor-Leste delegation recently attended the Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (APMCDRR), which was held in Pasay City last week.