Japan has approved 19.4 billion yen (174.6 million dollars) in loans to the Philippines to support land reform and bring relief to communities threatened by volcanic mud, Manila announced Friday.
A 7.6 billion yen loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation would be used for flood control works in seven towns and cities around Pinatubo volcano in the northern Philippines, the economic planning department said in a statement.
Volcanic material from a major Pinatubo eruption in 1991 silted major river systems in the area, unleashing mudflows that have buried entire communities.
A second loan for 11.8 billion yen would support the building and repair of "basic infrastructure" for farm workers who received land through the country's 19-year-old agrarian reform programme, the department said.
Loan terms were not disclosed.
