On July 27 at 8:43 in the morning, a strong magnitude 7.0 earthquake occurred in the Province of Abra, one of the consular districts of the Chinese Consulate in Laoag. Personal casualties and serious property damages was suffered not only by Abra Province, but other consular areas of the Consulate in Ilocos Sur, Mountain Province, and Benguet.

The Consulate immediately called the provincial governments of the earthquake-stricken areas to express condolences and willingness to provide disaster relief materials.

Recently, the Chinese Embassy in the Philippines and the Chinese Consulate in Laoag jointly provided 1,600 food packages containing rice, noodles, oil and other daily necessities to families in need for the four provinces. Through his letter of thanks, Ilocos Sur Governor Jerry Singson expressed his gratitude for the donation.

In addition, the Chinese Enterprises Philippines Association donated 3 million pesos in cash to the earthquake-stricken areas of Ilocos Norte. Since the earthquake, Chinese-funded enterprises have donated a total of 6.18 million pesos to the affected areas.

The donations from the Chinese government and Chinese-funded enterprises is hoped to greatly help the local governments in their disaster relief operations, and for the communities to support them in rebuilding their homes and restoring normal production and life as soon as possible.