The Philippine Embassy in Seoul has opened a Condolence Book for the victims of Typhoon Frank, particularly in Kalibo, Aklan and Ilo-ilo City, and the collateral victims and the sunken MV Princess of the Stars at the lobby of the Embassy located at Jinsong Bldg., 34-44, Itaewon 1-dong, Yongsan-Ku, Seoul.

The Embassy has opened a separate bank account for donations with KEB Bank that will be given to the National Disaster Coordination Council and the Philippine National Red Cross. For those who wish to remit their donation through the bank, they may quote the following bank account number 630-006450-250 (Korean Won Account) / 650-006554-854 ( US Dollar Account) or write a cheque payable to the Philippine Embassy. Kindly contact Consul Juan E. Dayang, Jr. or Finance Officer Carol Angeles at telephone 796-08-26, 011-94-96-42-85 or email j.dayang@philembassy-seoul.com for those who wish to give donations. Typhoon Frank's damage now at P10B By : Mia Gonzalez and Cai Ordinario | Business Mirror 2 July 2008 | 12:13 PM Damage inflicted by Typhoon Frank has now reached P10 billion, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported on Tuesday. OCD Administrator Glen Rabonza reported at the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) meeting in Iloilo City that P5.21 billion of the total typhoon damage represents agricultural production losses, P2.3 billion for infrastructure, P455 million for educational facilities and P2.3 billion for health facilities. The Department of Agriculture expressed confidence that the impact of the typhoon on the target agriculture and growth rate for the year would be "minimal," and informed President Arroyo that P833 million is needed for agriculture-related rehabilitation works. "Basically, the impact on agricultural production and our growth target are at a minimum, and we can recover this. The issue now is addressing the immediate livelihood of the people who were affected in the specific areas," Yap said. He said the damage to rice crops only has a 0.47-percent impact on the targeted volume of rice production for 2008; corn, 1 percent; high-value commercial crops (HVCC), about 6 percent; livestock, 0.6 percent; and fisheries, 2.42 percent. Agriculture Undersecretary Jesus Emmanuel Paras said the Department of Agriculture's estimated total damage to agriculture is P7.5 billion, as it includes the P1.68-billion damage to commercial fishing vessels in Panay Island. Paras said agriculture-related rehabilitation would require P833 million or P475 million for rice, P116 million for corn, P36 million for HVCC, P53 million for livestock and poultry, and P151 million for fisheries. Rabonza also said that the government would begin tapping commercial cargo carriers to hasten the delivery of relief goods in affected areas, adding that Fedex has committed two plane deliveries of relief goods out of Subic. Mrs. Arroyo said the presidential yacht, BRP Ang Pangulo, will now be used as a "moving logistics hub" for relief operations. Press Secretary Jesus Dureza said in a news briefing after the NDCC meeting that the President has chosen to make "strategic" visits to key disaster areas on that day - Iloilo City and Kalibo, Aklan - and not to outlying communities.