More than 32,000 people in flood-hit parts of Luzon are expected to receive food, drinking water, medical services, and basic supplies through ₱10.9 million in humanitarian funding from the European Union (EU).
The assistance comes as prolonged monsoon rains, intensified by several tropical cyclones and other weather systems, have affected more than 10.5 million people across 11 regions since early August.
As of September 14, more than 120,100 people were displaced and staying in over 500 evacuation centers, according to figures cited by the EU. At least 4,500 houses were damaged, while 188 cities were placed under a state of calamity.
The Philippine Red Cross will use the €150,000 funding to assist families in some of the hardest-hit areas of the Ilocos Region, Central Luzon and Metro Manila.
Relief operations will include the distribution of sleeping kits, water containers and hygiene supplies. Hot meals and safe drinking water will also be provided in evacuation centers and affected communities.
Mobile health teams will conduct medical consultations and distribute medicines. The response also covers health information, mental health support, hygiene activities and disease monitoring.
These measures seek to reduce the threat of water-borne and vector-borne diseases, which can spread in communities following floods.
Heavy rainfall brought by the southwest monsoon, or habagat, caused floods and landslides in low-lying, coastal and mountainous areas across Luzon. Homes, farmland, roads, bridges, water systems and power lines were damaged.
The funding forms part of the EU’s contribution to the Disaster Response Emergency Fund of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. It is in addition to the more than €2 million allocated by the EU to humanitarian partners in the Philippines at the start of 2026.
The EU has a €16-million agreement with the federation to support the emergency fund, which provides immediate financing to national Red Cross and Red Crescent societies responding to disasters.
The September 18 press release contains no direct quotation from an EU or Red Cross official, so no quote was added or created.
