CITY OF ILAGAN, Isabela — The Philippines is poised to send financial assistance to villagers in Sunda Strait in Indonesia, which was struck by a volcanic tsunami last December 22.
Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III told the Philippine News Agency over the phone on Thursday that President Rodrigo Duterte has tasked the department and other national government agencies to immediately prepare the financial assistance to Indonesia to reciprocate the latter’s help to the Philippines in times of calamity. He, said, however, that the amount of the financial aid has not yet been determined.
Bello said the country is fortunate that no one among the almost 9,000 Filipino overseas workers in Indonesia was reported affected by the volcanic tsunami, based on initial report.
“The number of Filipinos there in Indonesia is very minimal if compared to the overseas workers in other Asian countries,” he said.
Bello, however, ordered the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Indonesia to validate if there are really no affected Filipinos.
Media reports said at least 500 people died and 1,500 were injured in the tsunami in Sunda Strait while 22,000 people went homeless in the coastal areas of Java and Sumatra.
