US pledges add'l $10M for Yolanda victims

From GMA News (Nov 18): US pledges add'l $10M for Yolanda victims

The United States will donate an additional $10 million in humanitarian aid for the thousands left starving and homeless by super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), which lashed central Philippines on November 8.

In a statement Monday, Nancy E. Lindborg of the US' Agency for International Development Assistant Administrator of Democracy, Conflict, and Humanitarian Assistance said more than $37 million have been provided for the victims.

The additional contribution will help restore clean water in Tacloban City, the hardest hit area of the typhoon, and will provide additional support for the massive logistics operation dispatching and distributing relief supplies.

“The devastation left in the wake of the typhoon is truly staggering,” said Lindborg after completing an aerial assessment of the affected areas. “Our hearts go out to those who have lost loved ones, homes, and livelihoods.”

She said the additional $10 million “will allow much-needed relief supplies to reach to hard-hit areas and ensure that 200,000 people in and around Tacloban have clean running water.”

The US, a close ally of the Philippines, has deployed aircraft, including two Osprey aircraft and nine C-130s, to help deliver relief goods and rescue survivors from the Visayas to Metro Manila, said Armed Forces of the Philippines Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala.

The Philippine government, meanwhile, has vowed to be transparent in handling financial assistance received from various nations and international organizations meant for the typhoon victims.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad told GMA News Online last week the Commission on Audit “will ultimately audit because those donations and grants will enter the government's books and therefore have to be accounted for.”

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the Department of Foreign Affairs is in charge of coordinating all foreign assistance for the Philippines.

Meanwhile, in its 6 a.m. update on Monday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) said damage was estimated at P10,384,690,061, including P1,295,508,600 in infrastructure and P9,089,181,461 on agriculture. A total of 288,922 houses were destroyed while 282,884 were damaged.

It said Yolanda had affected 2,212,955 families or 10,306,318 people in 10,365 villages in 44 provinces. Of these, 74,015 families or 353,862 people are staying in 1,550 evacuation centers.

The death toll remained at 3,976 with 18,175 injured and 1,598 still missing.

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/335951/news/nation/us-pledges-add-l-10m-for-yolanda-victims