China donates $1 M to Surigao quake victims

DAVAO CITY – China donated $1 million to the victims of the magnitude 6.7 earthquake that struck Surigao de Norte on Feb. 10, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said yesterday.

“We still have to determine what Surigao needs... We might use it for infrastructure since many roads and bridges were destroyed by the quake,” Dominguez said.

The quake left eight people dead, 200 others injured and damage to infrastructure amounting to P650 million.

Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang paid a courtesy call on President Duterte here on Friday and inspected various infrastructure projects.

Wang also met with the country’s economic managers led by Dominguez at the Marco Polo Hotel Davao. They discussed the recently approved Philippine Development Plan, updates on bilateral cooperation on trade, investments and tourism, among others.

Dominguez said Wang’s visit was “very fruitful” as it further strengthened relations between China and the Philippines.

“We hope to have more business-to-business relations and joint ventures of our private sector with China,” he said.

Dominguez and Vice Minister Fu Ziying of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce signed the feasibility studies of two of the nine projects to get funding support from China. These are the Panay-Guimaras-Negros bridge and Davao City Expressway.