US Embassy donates $50,000 for relief operations for Bohol quake victims

US Embassy in Manila, Philippines. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The US Embassy has donated $50,000 for relief operations for the victims of the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that hit Bohol, Cebu and parts of Visayas and Mindanao last Tuesday.

“We are very concerned about the tragic loss of life and suffering caused by the Bohol earthquake,” Charge d’Affairs Brian Goldbeck was quoted as saying in a statement Friday by the US Embassy in the Philippines.

“The assistance the US Agency for International Development (USAID) can offer will be a good first step in mitigating that suffering,” he said.

At least 171 casualties were recorded in the provinces of Bohol, Cebu, and Siquijor with more than 300 injured from the quake that leveled several centuries-old churches and severely damaged roads and bridges.

Some 160,000 people have been displaced and nearly 98,000 are in 85 evacuation centers, according to the latest figures from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

USAID’s VisayasHealth Project has allocated 6,000 units of hygiene kits for victims in Bohol while two “US military water purifications units” have been transported to Tagbilaran city, one of the hardest hit areas in Bohol.

USAID, with the help of the World Food Programme, has also been providing logistical assistance to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which has P97 million worth of standby funds and stockpiled relief goods.

“The Embassy continues to work closely with its Philippine partners to determine the type of assistance most needed in the coming days,” it said.

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