MANILA, August 5 ------ The European Union said it will provide about P45.27 million of emergency funds to help victims of the powerful July 27 Luzon earthquake.
In a statement, EU said the €800,000 aid it will be sending aims to provide ‘safe drinking water and sanitation, hygiene, mental health and psychosocial support services, as well as education to the most vulnerable in the hardest hit-areas.’ "With this assistance, the European Union reaffirms its commitment and solidarity towards the victims of humanitarian disasters in the Philippines," said EU Delegation to the Philippines Chargé d'Affaires a.i. Ana Isabel Sánchez Ruiz. Ruiz noted that one of EU's information services, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS), had activated satellite imagery and other data (Copernicus Maps) to assist relief agencies in their delivery of emergency assistance in Northern Luzon.
Copernicus is aimed at developing European information services based on satellite Earth Observation and in situ (non-space) data, the EU said. "The objective of Copernicus is to monitor and forecast the state of the environment on land, sea and in the atmosphere, in order to support climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies, the efficient management of emergency situations and the improvement of the security of every citizen," it added.
Based on the latest NDRRMC update, 10 people were reported killed while 375 others were wounded by the earthquake, which also affected more than 314,000 people across 3 regions in Luzon.
Source: news.abs-cbn.com