Caritas Philippines distributes relief aid to victims of Typhoon Koppu

Caritas Philippines has started distributing relief goods to victims of Typhoon Koppu on October 20.

"These are just initial operations, we are still assessing the situation with our social action centers in the affected dioceses” said Father Anton Pascual, executive director of Caritas Manila.  The priest also said Caritas Manila has so far distributed 5,000 relief items to typhoon victims in the most affected areas of northern Philippines.

Caritas  has also allotted about US$43,000 in "standby funds" for areas that cannot be immediately reached. In its latest situation report, Caritas Philippines, the social action arm of the Catholic bishops' conference, reported that Typhoon Koppu affected about 96,770 people in 11 Catholic dioceses in the northern part of the country. The agency reported that requests for immediate relief aid from dioceses are becoming more frequent.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said some 300,000 people across seven regions on the island of Luzon have been affected by the typhoon since it made landfall on Oct. 18.

Some 15,600 families, or 70,500 people, were currently sheltered in 376 evacuation centers. Romina Marasigan, spokeswoman of the agency, told reporters in Manila that rescue operations continued in several parts of the region.

A total of 1,693 houses were reportedly damaged by the typhoon.

The state weather bureau, Pagasa, reported that as of Oct. 20, Typhoon Koppu had already weakened into a tropical storm.  (UCAN)