EU sets P10.9-M aid for Luzon flood victims
The European Union will allot P10.9 million in humanitarian aid for the estimated 32,000 people affected by last month’s widespread flooding in Luzon, including Metro Manila, amid the relentless monsoon rains until September.
The bloc said Friday the funds worth €150,000 would support relief operations of the Philippine Red Cross in some of the hardest-hit areas in the Ilocos Region, Central Luzon and Metro Manila which have yet to recover from the calamity.
The assistance will be used to provide sleeping kits, water containers and hygiene supplies, as well as hot meals and safe drinking water for people in evacuation centers and affected communities.
Mobile health teams will also provide medical consultations, medicines, health information and mental health support, while hygiene activities and disease monitoring will be conducted to help prevent waterborne and vector-borne diseases, according to the EU.
People affected
The aid comes after heavy rains brought by the southwest monsoon or “habagat,” which had been enhanced by several tropical cyclones especially throughout much of August.
The prolonged rains caused widespread flooding and landslides across Luzon, damaging homes and infrastructure.
Citing data as of Sept. 14, the EU said more than 10.5 million people across 11 regions had been affected, with more than 120,100 displaced in over 500 evacuation centers.
More than 4,500 homes had been damaged, while 188 cities had been declared under a state of calamity, it added.
Emergency fund
The latest assistance is part of EU’s contribution to the Disaster Response Emergency Fund of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
This is apart from more than €2 million in humanitarian funding that the EU said it had allocated to its partners in the Philippines at the start of the year.
The Disaster Response Emergency Fund is allotted to the Red Cross and Red Crescent societies as immediate response to disasters and other emergencies.
