Aquino to spread holiday cheer to calamity areas

President Benigno Aquino III. AP

President Benigno Aquino III will spread Christmas cheer Sunday to victims of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in Tacloban City and other areas hit by disasters this year.

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma in a phone interview said Saturday the President would check on the progress of rehabilitation efforts, particularly the areas where temporary shelters had been constructed.

“He will greet, ‘Merry Christmas,’ those in the calamity areas,” Coloma said.

The President will then proceed to Zamboanga City, site of a three-week battle in September between government forces and Moro National Liberation Front guerrillas in which villages and churches were razed.

Mr. Aquino will also visit Compostela Valley, hit by Typhoon “Pablo” in December last year, killing nearly 1,000 people.

The President will skip Bohol province, which was struck by a 7.2-magnitude earthquake on Oct. 15. He had visited the province thrice. The quake killed more than 200 people in Bohol, Cebu and Siquijor provinces. Michael Lim Ubac

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 First posted 9:51 pm | Saturday, December 21st, 2013