In light of the typhoons that ravaged the country over the past month, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has sought closer consultations with the Philippine government to strengthen its early warning system.

JICA President Dr. Tanaka Akihiko said this during his courtesy call to President Marcos in Malacañan on Wednesday, Nov. 20.

In his remarks, Tanaka praised the Philippines for recording relatively few casualties despite the six typhoons it had dealt with over the past month.

"We would like to have deeper consultation with the government of the Philippines," he said.

"Prime Minister Ishiba emphasized that disaster risk reduction is one of his priorities," he added.

Tanaka likewise noted that the Philippines' disaster response systems outperformed even those of some advanced nations.

"In comparison with many other developing countries and with many advanced nations, I believe the Filipino management of the floods and typhoons in many ways [is] exemplary," he said.

He expressed confidence in the common ability of the Philippines and Japan to provide valuable insights to the global community on disaster management.

For his part, President Marcos underscored the importance of new technologies, particularly in early warning systems, to address the escalating challenges posed by climate change.

"The early warning is becoming more and more important because we have noticed that whereas before, the usual typhoon season, when a storm is maybe two or three days away, even if [it] becomes a storm surge, it slowly develops," he said.

"Now, when it is a Category 1 Storm, in 24 hours, it’s a Category 5. It seems to be a new phenomenon that we have to deal with. That is why early warning systems, the meteorological warnings [are important]," he added.

As part of the Philippines’ effort to improve disaster preparedness, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) is working with JICA on the Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting (DTTB) system to fully digitalize PTV-4.

The project aims to establish an Emergency Warning Broadcast System (EWBS).