Philippines to earmark $114m for quake-hit area rehabilitation

The Philippine government has set aside 5 billion pesos (114 million U.S. dollars) for the rehabilitation of earthquake-hit central province of Bohol, President Benigno Aquino III said Thursday. Aquino returned to Bohol after more than a month since the magnitude 7.2 quake struck the province on Oct. 15 to present the reconstruction plan in the area. The president said that the Department of Energy is working with other concerned agencies to fully restore the power supply in the province and to have "zero rotational brownouts" before Dec. 25 or Christmas Day. The state-run National Housing Authority also continued to provide fund for the repair of houses that were damaged, he said. The concerned state agencies and the private sector are also coordinating for the rebuilding of historical churches destroyed by the quake, Aquino added. Some 10 churches, mostly from Bohol, were damaged from the earthquake and more than 200 people were killed from the tragedy.