UN to set up Disaster Response Center at GenSan airport

The General Santos International Airport complex will house the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP) Disaster Response Center (DRC) in Mindanao, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said Monday.

An agreement was reached over the weekend – among the CAAP, UNWFP and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) – to build the DRC within the General Santos International Airport complex.

The agreement was established during a site visit by DSWD Undersecretary Vilma B. Cabrera, UNWFP Special Operation Project Manager Mads Vejlstrup, and CAAP Deputy Director General Artemio Orozco.

"The DRC will be a facility that will include a warehouse to store disaster relief goods, an office for the humanitarian clusters, and a training center for disaster operations personnel," CAAP said in an emailed statement.

"The facility is a government-UN initiative in further improving disaster response mechanisms, and to provide more efficient and timely response to future disaster-affected areas," it added.

CAAP will provide the lot for the DRC. The UNWFP will fund the construction and manage the facility for two years.

The DSWD, which serves as the vice chair for the Disaster Response Pillar of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, will take over the facility after two years.

General Santos Airport Manager Allan Punay said the GenSan airport is the biggest of the 81 airports managed by CAAP.

It encompasses over 600 hectares and a 3,200-meter runway capable of accommodating the Airbus A380, the biggest commercial aircraft in the world. – Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VS, GMA News