MANILA: Tens of thousands of survivors of the recent earthquake in Mindanao will receive assistance from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, officials said, as KSrelief teams are set to visit the affected areas this week.
The magnitude 7.8 offshore Sarangani earthquake, which affected a large part of southern Mindanao, was one of the most destructive earthquakes to hit the Philippines in recent years.
At least 81 people were killed and 1,300 injured. More than 100,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, rendering hundreds of thousands of people homeless.
Roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and other public infrastructure were also severely damaged resulting in multimillion-dollar losses.
The aid from KSrelief aims to address the priority needs indicated by the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development, including shelter and rice, a member of the center’s team, Waheed Al-Ruthaya, told Arab News.
“We worked on providing support in this area,” he said. “The aid will be delivered in scheduled installments, in coordination with the ministry, which will oversee its distribution.”
KSrelief’s delegation met with representatives of the DSWD in Manila last week and committed to providing hygiene kits, and sleeping kits to support more than 10,000 families, according to the ministry’s estimates.
“This will be for the immediate needs of the disaster-affected families ... Most of these families are located in tent cities. They are displaced and are occupying family tents in open spaces,” said DSWD Assistant Secretary Irene Dumalo.
The center will also deliver 20,000 sacks of rice, expanding the number of direct beneficiaries even further.
“We are very grateful. for such assistance and we welcome the donations from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. These donations, or this support, are really significant,” DSWD Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao told Arab News.
“It indirectly augments government funding to provide immediate disaster relief. And, of course, this bolsters our disaster response efforts, and it also ensures that all disaster-affected populations are served.”
