IOM deliveries of relief goods by truck and boat to typhoon-ravaged
areas of Bicol have now reached some 14,000 families. The 240
metric tons of goods were donated by the Philippine government, the
Philippine Red Cross, international and local NGOs.

An IOM emergency team working from an operations hub in Legaspi
City will continue to make its logistics and transport services
available to groups sending assistance to the region, where efforts
to repair hundreds of houses and schools are ongoing.

"Our efforts to reach affected communities have continued
non-stop through the holidays, but the needs are still huge," says
Ida Mae Fernandez, who is coordinating IOM’s operations in
Bicol.

This month IOM will help the Jaycees chapter in Legaspi City to
bring in donations gathered from various Jaycees chapters in Metro
Manila.

IOM’s logistics operation in Bicol, funded with $250,000
from the UN’s Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF),
complements the Philippine government’s efforts to bring
relief to the area struck by Typhoon Reming on 30 November
2006.

Reming, also known as Durian, swept through the Bicol provinces
of Catanduanes, Albay, and Camarines Sur leaving some 1,400 people
dead or missing and 2,000 injured. Today, thousands remain
displaced, many of them without access to food, water and
electricity.

IOM has also appealed to international donors for an additional
US$ 6 million to provide emergency relief and rehabilitation
assistance to another 95,000 internally-displaced people in the
region.

Assessments conducted in the typhoon-hit provinces identified
the need for food and non-food items including sleeping mats,
blankets and mosquito nets; drinking water; water purification
tablets and systems; medicine and medical kits for children and
adults; emergency shelter in the form of individual household
tents; and power generator sets to support lifeline services in
medical facilities.

For further information, please contact:

Ruffy L. Villanueva

IOM Manila

Tel: +63.2. 8481260-63 ext 194

Mobile : +63.9184211786

E-mail: "mailto:rvillanueva@iom.int">rvillanueva@iom.int