PRESIDENT Arroyo yesterday ordered the release of P500 million for emergency shelter assistance to victims of storm "Cosme" following an aerial inspection in Lingayen, Pangasinan and Sta. Cruz, Zambales.

In Sta. Cruz, the worst-hit area, Arroyo led the distribution of 5,000 sacks of rice and some P263,000 worth of reconstruction materials from the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority including 200 pieces corrugated GI sheets and 200 pieces of plywood.

The President ordered the public works department and the National Disaster Coordinating Council to use the P500 million mainly for the purchase of additional GI sheets.

The P500 million is part of the support fund extended by NDCC to provinces, said Anthony Golez, the agency's executive director.

The provinces will shoulder expenses for other materials using their calamity fund, he said.

Other directives issued by Arroyo were to the Government Service Insurance System and the Social Security System to extend calamity assistance to members affected by the storm; the education department to fast-track repair and rehabilitation of schools; the agriculture department to extend assistance to damaged farmlands; the health department to ensure deployment of health surveillance teams to prevent outbreak of diseases; and the restoration of electricity in Pangasinan and Zambales by Monday.

During the relief distribution, Arroyo handed P10,000 in cash to the family of Benjamin Admana, a resident of Sta. Cruz who suffered a heart attack at the height of the storm, and P5,000 to the family of Joanna Melu, also of Sta. Cruz, who was injured during the onslaught of Cosme last weekend.