Asian Development Bank (ADB) President Takehiko Nakao on February 12 visited the Philippines’ Tacloban city that was badly damaged by super typhoon Haiyan in November last year.

Speaking at an opening ceremony of ADB office in the city, Nakao expressed sympathy for losses and the hard post-disaster reconstruction in the country.

He also spoke highly of Tacloban people’s will to overcome such difficulties as well as international solidarity and support to the Philippines .

The ADB President reaffirmed the bank's support for reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts for the affected communities.

According to him, the office will coordinate and monitor the use of funds while advising local authorities on recovery efforts through technical support to related projects.

ADB’s assistance will help Tacloban rebuild critical social infrastructure such as schools and clinics, and restore different sources of income in rural communities.

It will also build the capacity of local authorities to implement risk-sensitive land use planning and disaster preparedness in anticipation of future calamities, he said.

To date, ADB has extended nearly 900 million USD to the Philippine government for immediate recovery efforts and long- term reconstruction and rehabilitation.

The amount includes a 3 million USD grant for emergency assistance, a 20 million USD grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, a 372 million loans to expand existing community-driven development programmes to typhoon-affected areas, and a 500 million USD loan for budget support to the Government to cover costs associated with overall relief and recovery effort.-VNA