We have finally received news of the Philippines national genebank. Teresita Borromeo, who has worked there for some years, sent us the following email:
Yes, after 8 years, we were again devastated by the typhoon. The storage room is fortunately safe but our regeneration areas were completely damaged as well as our field gene bank. There was not much flood water as in 2006 but the winds were strong which lasted around ten hours. We had electricity just last Friday afternoon, so our freezers were first powered by generator. This again highlights the need for safety duplication within and outside the country. UPLB is greatly damaged, many trees fell down.
Seconded.