FILIPINO GROUP TO PROVIDE RELIEF FOR TYPHOON AFFECTED

Riyadh, 10 Muharram 1437/23 Oktober 20015 (MINA) –  Filipino rights group Migrante-Middle East (M-ME) and other overseas Filipino workers’ (OFW) organizations will be launched to provide relief to those affected by typhoon ‘Lando’ in the Philippines.

Raging floodwaters and landslides triggered by the typhoon in the island of Luzon killed scores recently.

More than 100,000 people are still in temporary shelters, even as $141.63 million worth of crops, infrastructure and homes have been destroyed.

“We are reactivating our Sagip Migrante at Pamilya, a campaign to gather support and donations, in cash or goods,” said the Saudi-based M-ME regional coordinator, John Leonard Monterona, Arab News quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting.

Monterona, who is also the secretary-general of the newly-formed Filipino Expatriates Council for Peace and Order, said that since Thursday, their group and affiliates were monitoring the typhoon situation.

Quoting news reports, Monterona said, “There are relatively huge numbers of OFW families residing in central and northern Luzon. Barangays in Nueva Ecija and Isabela already under water. We are urging our Migrante leaders and members in the Middle East and in other regions to start collecting donations.”

He also urged the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to commence its relief operation by utilizing its provincial and regional offices in central and northern Luzon.

Monterona reminded fellow OFWs not to send donations to the DSWD for fear that it may not reach the beneficiaries just like what had happened in the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda. (T/Imt/R03)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)