US pledges $1 million for PH storm victims

National

THE United States (US) government has pledged an additional $1 million (approximately P58.7 million) in aid for the victims of Super Typhoon Pepito (international name: Man-yi).

The pledge was made during a meeting between U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd James Austin III and Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in Malacañang on Monday.

During the courtesy call, Austin announced that the U.S. would provide life-saving assistance to the Philippines through its troops and the Philippine forces.

Austin added that the U.S. has also secured another million dollars in “urgent humanitarian aid, which will enhance the work of the USAID [United States Agency for International Development] and the World Food Programme.”

This new commitment is in addition to the $5.5 million in aid provided to the Philippines through USAID last September, which helped with ongoing relief efforts.

In total, the U.S. has contributed significantly to the country’s disaster response, including the deployment of around 50 tons of relief items to areas affected by the storm.

President Marcos, in his remarks, acknowledged the crucial role played by the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA) sites in the successful delivery of aid to affected regions.

He highlighted how these locations were instrumental in providing strategic staging areas for relief efforts.

These sites allowed the prepositioning of supplies and resources in anticipation of the storm's impact, ensuring that humanitarian aid could be quickly deployed to the most isolated areas.

"Before the storm came, we prepositioned as many assets and materials as we could, as close as possible, to avoid damage to the resources we had," Marcos said in an Inquirer report.(CMM)