Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto G. Romulo welcomed the Flash Appeal issued by the United Nations calling on the international community to extend emergency assistance to the Philippines, the Department of Foreign Affairs ( DFA) said on Wednesday. 'We welcome and support the Flash Appeal issued by the United Nations to help our fellow Filipinos who have been victims of typhoon 'Ondoy' (internatioal code name: Ketsana),' Romulo said. 'The Philippine Government is grateful for the help being extended to us by the United Nations in these trying times. We particularly extend our gratitude to UN Secretary General Ban Ki- moon for his and the UN's assistance and quick response,' he said. The Flash Appeal, which will be formally launched by the world body in Geneva, New York, and Manila (October 7), calls for urgent help in key sectors such as food/nutrition, shelter, water/ sanitation, education, child protection, health, agriculture, livelihoods, logistics, communications, camp coordination/camp management, as well as early recovery. The United Nations said a request has been made to the Central Emergency Response Fund to address the most urgent needs, while the international humanitarian community including NGOs, the International Organization for Migration and United Nations agencies, are seeking 7.4 million U.S. dollars to address the immediate needs of approximately one million typhoon victims. Secretary Romulo said the Department of Foreign Affairs, through its Missions in Geneva and New York and other foreign service posts, is actively supporting efforts to facilitate the appeal process and other international humanitarian assistance measures. On September 26, 'Ondoy' pounded Metro Manila and other provinces in the Central Luzon, killing at least 288 people. Damage to property was estimated at 5.072 billion (about 106 million U.S. dollars), including 1.855 billion (about 39 million U. S. dollars) in infrastructure and 6.5 billion pesos (about 140 million U.S. dollars) in agriculture. 