Manila, Nov. 3 -- The newly established joint task force with the United States will help boost the Philippines' capabilities to respond to calamities, according to Department of National Defense (DND) Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr.

In a press briefing in Makati City Sunday, Teodoro said Task Force Philippines will ensure an "immediate and quick response to the natural calamities that we are facing."

"[The] task force has a specific mission, and that mission is to converge with our resilience both internally and externally, and it is -shall we say- an efficiency mechanism to funnel all the activities," he said.

Task Force Philippines was formally established last week following a meeting between Teodoro and US Secretary of War Pete Heg...