Official foreign aid for ‘Yolanda’ victims tops P10.6B, says DFA

Lt. Cmdr. Mike DeVito, left, Commander, Task Force 70, helicopter operations officer, embarked aboard the US Navy’s forward-deployed aircraft carrier USS George Washington, helps a member of the Filipino Air Force carry a box of relief supplies in support of relief efforts in the aftermath of the Supertyphoon Yolanda, Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013, in Guinan. Foreign aid for Supertyphoon “Yolanda” survivors in Samar and Leyte as well as similarly devastated provinces now totals P10.6 billion, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported on Sunday. AP Photo/US Navy, PO 3rd Class Paolo Bayas

MANILA, Philippines—Foreign aid for Supertyphoon “Yolanda” survivors in Samar and Leyte as well as similarly devastated provinces now totals P10.6 billion, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) reported on Sunday.

DFA spokesman Raul Hernandez reported via his Twitter account that there was now an estimated P10.6 billion in delivered and pledged assistance for the typhoon victims courtesy of 43 governments and three international government organizations as of 3 p.m. Sunday.

A report of the foreign assistance prepared by the DFA includes only official government assistance and excluded donations from nongovernment organizations. It said the estimated value also only accounted for donations with monetary valuation.

The foreign aid consisted generally of financial aid, relief goods, equipment, humanitarian services, and transportation and logistics.

The US government has deployed more than 50 ships and aircraft to aid in search and rescue and to airlift supplies.

The Canadian government has deployed a military disaster response team for 30 to 60 days and put up a Philippine crisis fund.

“For every dollar donated by individual Canadians to registered Canadian charities responding to the crisis in the Philippines, the government will set aside an additional dollar to match the donation, the foreign office said. The money from the relief fund will be coursed through international and Canadian humanitarian organizations.

The 43 nations extending help to the country are Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, European Union/European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican and Vietnam.

The three international organizations are the United Nations Children’s Fund, UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Arab Gulf Fund for UN Development.