MANILA, Philippines – Fresh from a trip to Japan, President Benigno Aquino said Sunday (December 15th) the Japanese prime minister had told him that Tokyo would substantially increase its typhoon reconstruction standby loan to the Philippines, AFP reported.

The Japanese loan would increase to $500m from $100m (P 22 billion from P 44 m), the Philippine president said in a speech, noting this was in addition to a $66m (P 2.9 m) Japanese grant already provided for immediate typhoon relief.

"This visit showed what a good friend and ally the Japanese nation is," said Aquino.

On Friday in Tokyo, at an ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) conference, Aquino told reporters that scores of devastated towns and cities across the central Philippine islands needed national government help to clean up debris and restore infrastructure.

The Philippines will need nearly $3 billion (P 132.2 billion) to rebuild parts of the country destroyed by the nation's deadliest typhoon, the presidential palace said Saturday (December 14th).

On November 8th, Super Typhoon Haiyan unleashed tsunami-like storm surges that killed at least 6,033 people. Another 1,779 people are missing.

"For our region, we are still collecting bodies. We are getting an average eight to 10 additional dead bodies every day," Civil Defence Director Rey Gozon told AFP.