By Hader Glang
ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines
French President Francois Hollande commended the Philippines on Friday for its resiliency in the aftermath of a 2013 super-typhoon, local media reported.
His comments came during a visit to Guiuan, a central Philippine town ravaged by Typhoon Yolanda, a day after he launched an appeal with Philippine President Benigno Aquino III to reach a climate change deal in Paris later this year.
“We need the Philippines, we need countries which not only were victims of disasters but also countries that were able to invent policies and to express a number of recommendations that will be examples for the France conference,” GMA News quoted him as saying.
On the second day of his Philippines tour, the first by a serving French president, Hollande met with residents of Guiuan and visited the town’s churches, seafront and market place.
He also signed a rehabilitation agreement with the Department of Social Welfare Development and a French non-government organization, according to GMA.
Since his arrival in the Philippines on Thursday, Hollande has stressed the need for global cooperation in the campaign against climate change.
"There will be no agreement concluded in Paris if the countries, the poorest countries, are not convinced that there will be a fund… which would be made available to them," Hollande had said after he and Aquino launched the "Manila Call to Action on Climate Change.”
A fund of $100 billion is needed to help poor countries make the commitment to reduce greenhouse gases. Previously only developed nations have pledged to limit the emissions that cause global warming.
Before wrapping up his tour, Hollande is set to visit European schools in Paranaque City, Metro Manila, as well as meeting the French community.
His visit has witnessed signing of memoranda of understanding on tourism cooperation, higher education and transportation and infrastructure projects.
In 2013, Typhoon Yolanda - the most powerful typhoon on record to hit land - left more than 7,000 people dead or missing.
As the world’s most cyclone-hit nation that sits in a typhoon belt at the edge of the Pacific Ocean, the Philippines is among the frontline nations against climate change.
