Manila to carve out typhoon-relief zones

MANILA - The Philippines will divide up the typhoon-ravaged central Visayas between countries to maximise relief efforts, a senior officer said.

President Benigno Aquino is now personally overseeing relief operations in the worst-hit city of Tacloban, in one of Asia's biggest humanitarian efforts which could last months, if not years.

The military commander of the Visayas, Lieutenant-General Roy Deveraturda, said the plan was to now cut the region into blocks and decide which military forces operate where.

"We're planning to ask the British Royal Navy to concentrate on the western Visayas region, to assess and deliver food, water and supplies to smaller islands... We already have the Americans in Samar and Leyte, and Israeli doctors and relief teams in the northern tip of Cebu," he said.