IN recent times, the Philippines has endured a relentless procession of storms. Wipha (Crising) in July submerged entire communities in Northern Luzon. Ragasa (Nando) and Bualoi (Opong) arrived back-to-back in late September which brought heavy flooding and forced thousands into evacuation across Eastern Visayas. Last week, Kalmaegi (Tino) triggered landslides and flooded swaths of Central Philippines, which reportedly killed hundreds of people and countless others displaced. Homes were swept away, rice fields nearing harvest were drowned, and local governments once again scrambled to source relief, rebuild roads, and restore electricity, among others. Early this week, Fung-wong (Uwan) raged through the entire archipelago, and wrought even more havoc.
This story repeats so often that it risks becoming background noise. Yet the cost is staggering, not only in monetary terms or disrupted livelihoods, but also in the exhaustion of constant rebuilding. The 2025 World Risk Index report has named the country as the most disaster-prone in the world, with its adaptation capacity struggling to keep pace with the speed of global warming.
Across the Bashi Channel, Taiwan experiences these same typhoons, floods, and landslides, but it has systematically built a more robust resilience that can share with the Philippines.
Reliable disaster-resilience partner
WHILE we can consider disasters as natural, loss is not. Rain, earthquakes, and typhoons are normal in our region. What turns natural events into national tragedies is insufficient preparation and systemic fragility.
Over the decades, through repeated climate impact, Taiwan has forged battle-tested mechanisms such as a nationwide emergency response system, strict seismic and flood-resilient building standards, advanced warning systems and annual disaster preparedness drills.
Further, the international outreach has proven Taiwan’s strengths in disaster preparedness and response: Our search-and-rescue teams assisted in global disaster zones, including the 2023 Trkiye earthquake.
Through the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, Taiwan has spent nearly two decades advancing emergency preparedness across the region.
The Global Cooperation and Training Framework hosted by Taiwan has facilitated disaster resilience workshops with over 30 participating countries. Its National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction has helped implement flood early-warning systems in Belize, Palau, India, and Indonesia, combining river sensors, forecasting, evacuation planning, and community drills.
Climate change is a pressing problem that requires concerted, collaborative action. The Philippines needs the technical cooperation, training networks, and standardized disaster-governance models that Taiwan has already refined. We are also willing to share with the Philippines our operational, technology-backed, community-rooted expertise.
Supporting Taiwan’s COP30 participation
AS the world prepares for the 30th United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP 30) in Belém, Brazil this month, Taiwan remains excluded from this major climate-governance mechanism.
Taiwan has voluntarily aligned its climate commitments with the Paris Agreement; operates the world’s most advanced climate monitoring satellites and has enforceable legislation supporting its 2050 net-zero transition.
A climate summit that excludes Taiwan-a country that demonstrates climate solutions-is a summit weakened.
Shared risks require shared action
TAIWAN and the Philippines are neighbors not only in geography, but in climate destiny. Supporting our meaningful participation in global climate governance is not geopolitics- it is practical climate survival.
If the Philippines is to break the cycle of destruction and rebuilding, it needs partners who understand not just the science, but the storm. Taiwan is one of those partners, and we stand ready to help.
Storms do not ask for visas, and floods do not stop at borders; yet, resilience is always stronger when it is shared. I therefore call on our Filipino friends to support Taiwan’s bid to participate in COP30, and to join hands with us in building a climate-resilient future for our region.