Foreign aid pours into rescue effort
Foreign governments and expatriate Filipinos are rushing to help thousands of villagers trapped by floods and landslides.
The US government is sending troops, earth-moving equipment and helicopters, along with a donation of US$100,000, said Colonel Elma Aldea, administrator of the Philippine military's office of civil defence.
The Spanish government has donated food and medicine worth 4.4 million pesos ($610,000) through the Red Cross, while a French non-governmental organisation gave satellite videophones for officials to use in disaster areas without cellular coverage.
Donations from Filipinos overseas were sent to local television networks, while Manila residents donated boxes of noodles and canned goods, along with bags of clothes. A local miners' association said it would send 100 workers to aid the rescue effort.
