Yolanda aid sent to help Glenda victims

CEBU, Philippines - A non-government organization is set to bring relief goods to the victims of typhoon Glenda in Sorsogon this week.

The relief goods were supposedly intended for the victims of super typhoon Yolanda but were not immediately released by the Bureau of Customs. The consignee, Santo Niño de Cebu Augustinian Social Development Foundation (SNAF), decided to use some of the relief goods for the victims of Glenda in Sorsogon.

Fr. Tito Soquiño of SNAF said they were told by fellow a Augustinian priest, Fr. Rommel Bongcac, of Saint Augustine Parish in Gubat, Sorsogon, that about 800 of the 1,000 houses in the area were destroyed by Glenda.

SNAF and Knight-Stewards of the Sea, Inc., have tied up with the Armed Forces of the Philippines to transport the goods. Soquiño said they were supposed to leave yesterday morning but for some reason the AFP had cancelled it.

SNAF had already sent a portion of the goods to Kinatarcan Island in Santa Fe while the rest will be given to Bien Unido in Bohol.

Soquiño said they have to bring the rest of the goods especially the food packs to the victims otherwise these, too, would expire.

The donation arrived last December in two 40-footer vans from Singapore. However, government bureaucracy delayed its release. —(FREEMAN)