Spain, Germany donate for Visayas quake victims

MANILA, Philippines - Spain will provide P15.5 million or 50,000 euros while the German government donated P28.6 million or 490,000 euros for the victims of the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Central Visayas last month.

The Spanish government said the donation would be used for the acquisition of community tents and generators to be coursed through the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation.

For water, sanitation and health-care facilities, 57,000 euros would be coursed through the local branch of the Spanish Red Cross, while 157,000 euros will be allocated for support and repair of damaged schools through the local branch of the Spanish non-government organization Save the Children.

The Spanish embassy said their government would also assist the National Commission for Culture and the Arts in its efforts to reconstruct Spanish-era churches, watchtowers and buildings damaged by the quake.

Aid from the German government, on the other hand, would be used to acquire non-food items, including sleeping mats, blankets, water containers and hygiene kits; the repair of shelters, restoration of water supply and sanitation; and for a hygiene education campaign.

Germany earlier pledged P14 million through Johanniter Unfallhilfe, a German humanitarian organization.

Earlier, Germany also contributed P148 million or 2.5 million euros through the European Union’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection Department.