Canada to send additional $5M worth of relief goods to PH

Canada to send additional $5M worth of relief goods to PH

TORONTO–Mr. Christian Paradis, Federal Minister of International Development, announced Wednesday (Nov. 20) an increase in the amount of aid to the Philippines.

In addition to the $20 M previously announced, another $5M worth of emergency relief goods will be sent shortly to the Philippines, using two chartered aircraft.

The emergency relief goods consist of 5,000 individual packages containing tents, blankets, water purification, cooking and sanitation equipment, and basic tools.  These goods are part of the Canadian inventory being maintained by the Canadian Red Cross that are used in response to disasters.

Paradis himself will be flying to the Philippines this Sunday (Nov. 24) to oversee relief operations for a few days. The Canadian relief efforts are being coordinated from a DND command post in Roxas City.  He will be visiting Tacloban and Ormoc.

Paradis confirmed that the Canadian DART team, with 170 personnel, is already on the ground in the Philippines helping deliver relief goods and other assistance to hard-to-reach areas.

The Canadian Red Cross also confirmed during the meeting that it has set up two emergency hospitals in Ormoc which are ready to accept patients.

The current focus is on delivering emergency relief.  An assessment will be done by CIDA at a later date to determine in what areas the Canadian government can contribute to longer-term re-development efforts in the devastated areas.

Mr. Paradis encourages Filipino-Canadian donors to channel their donations to any one of the accredited relief agencies listed in CIDA’s website to benefit from the donation matching program previously announced by the Canadian government.  (O.M.)