US, Japan send aid for landslide disaster

United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said the UN was trying to round up aid to help the Philippines cope with landslides that killed around 200 people.

Already, the United States said yesterday it was providing P2.7 million (about $49,000) as well as relief goods to the victims while Japan said it is providing about ¥15.9 million (about $144,000) in aid.

Annan’s spokesman, Fred Eckhard, said the UN chief was "distressed to learn of the casualties and damage caused by landslides and floods in the central part of the Philippines."

"He conveys his condolences and deepest sympathy," he said.

The US funds were to be given to the local Red Cross office, while a US C-130 military cargo plane was scheduled to deliver medicines, food, blankets and clothes to affected areas, the US Embassy said.

US Ambassador Francis Ricciardone, who accompanied President Arroyo in visiting disaster-stricken Panaon island yesterday, has expressed "great regret and sympathy" on behalf of US President George W. Bush, the US Embassy said.

Meanwhile, aid from Japan included tents, generators, cables, water tanks, shovels, tool sets and blankets, the Japanese embassy said in a statement.

The supplies arrived in Manila yesterday from a Japanese government warehouse in Singapore.

"In behalf of the government and people of Japan, the embassy has likewise expressed its sympathies and condolences to the victims of Saturday’s tragedy," it said.

Economic Planning Secretary Romulo Neri thanked Japan for the aid, which will be coursed through the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

"This will surely go a long way as far as the disaster victims are concerned. We are really grateful to the government of Japan for their immediate response," Neri said in a statement.

Eckhard said that the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Human Affairs has provided an emergency grant of $50,000 and was "working to mobilize international donor response" after the catastrophe.

Germany has expressed its condolences to President Arroyo and the victims.

"I would like to convey to you and to the Philippine people our sincere sympathy. We hope that the missing persons can be rescued soon," German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said in a statement.

Yesterday, personnel of the Department of Foreign Affairs passed the hat and raised P60,000 for the victims.

Weekend landslides buried several villages in Leyte and Surigao del Sur provinces as rescuers battled Sunday to reach the devastated areas.

Nearly 200 bodies have been recovered so far and dozens more people are still missing. — AFP, Marvin Sy