Saturday, July 16, 2011

Cotabato flood victims get US aid



Photos released by the US Embassy to the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner show donations to Cotabato City flood victims. Washington has given some $1.2 million in aid to Cotabato.


COTABATO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / July 16, 2011) - Washington donated additional $100,000 to victims of flash floods in the southern Philippine city of Cotabato in Mindanao Island.

The money would be used to purchase some 2,000 hygiene kits and the repair of damaged water systems in Cotabato which was devastated by two cyclones since June.

The city was submerged under water after the Rio Grande de Mindanao overflowed and further aggravated by the tons of water plants that clogged the river.

US Ambassador Harry Thomas, Jr. said the donation would help some 800,000 people affected by the calamities.

“Disasters are a time when friends lend one another a helping hand,” Thomas said. “We are working closely with Philippine government agencies to make sure our assistance reaches those who are most in need.”

The international nongovernmental organization, Action Against Hunger, will handle the distribution of the fund. Just recently, the US government also handed over $1.1 million worth of rice and vegetable oil to the refugees. (Mindanao Examiner)

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