Companies pitch in for disaster relief

MANILA, Philippines - The private sector led by businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan yesterday started pitching in with donations and services in areas affected by the heavy monsoon rains.

Pangilinan led the employees of the MVP Group of Companies in the “Tulong Kapatid” drive in distributing relief goods to flood victims in Metro Manila and Cavite.

Pangilinan called for more volunteers to join and help the affected families now staying in evacuation centers.

“We have taken it upon ourselves to help the needy in times of disaster, a practice embedded in our culture of responsibility,” he stressed. “We started mobilizing our resources for the victims of Tropical Storm Maring yesterday, and we will continue with the distribution of relief goods as well as other donations for as long as our means allow us.”

Pangilinan, chairman the Board of Trustees of the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (PDRF), visited the affected families in the cities  of Mandaluyong, Taguig, and Parañaque, and the nearby province of Cavite.

He was accompanied by Michael Toledo, senior vice president for corporate affairs at Philex Mining Corp., and other officials of the MVP Group.

Toledo said the visit to the different evacuation centers was done after One Meralco Foundation, Inc., the development arm of Manila Electric Co., prepared at least 3,000 bags of relief goods – basic food, water, hygiene kit – for deployment and the TV-5’s Alagang Kapatid Foundation sent two truckloads of goods to Cavite and Laguna, respectively.

Menchie Silvestre, executive director of Alagang Kapatid, said another truck would be dispatched to the provinces of Bulacan and Pampanga, depending on the availability of packed relief goods. She also said the truck that went to Cavite yesterday distributed goods mainly in the towns of Kawit and Rosario, while the one deployed to Laguna served Biñan and Santa Rosa.

Alagang Kapatid, meanwhile, served the affected residents in Lower Bicutan, in Taguig; Malanday, Marikina; and San Mateo, Rizal.

“Since we are doing a holistic approach to giving aid, we may also set up soup kitchens in evacuation centers, which we anticipate will be full of people seeking temporary shelter from the floods in their areas,” Toledo said.

“We also have rescue and medical teams helping us to ensure the success of our ‘Tulong Kapatid’ drive.”

The PDRF and the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) committed a combined P1 million worth of relief goods for the affected families in various evacuation centers since Sunday night, when the weather bureau announced possible floods in some areas, owing to heavy to intense rains because of the southwest monsoon enhanced by Tropical Storm Maring.

The PDRF came to the fore in October 2009, when the Special National Public Reconstruction Commission (SNPRC) was created through Executive Order 838 issued by then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, following the devastation brought about by Typhoons Ondoy, Pepeng, and Frank. The SNPRC was mandated to tap private-sector resources for the reconstruction of calamity-devastated areas.

Toledo added One Meralco has provided the collection point for relief goods at the Meralco Compound on Ortigas Avenue while the North Luzon Expressway, another MVP Group company formerly known as the North Diversion Road and Manila North Expressway, has helped in the transportation of relief goods.

Globe Telecom, on the other hand, offered free telecommunication services to the affected residents of Marikina City yesterday.

Globe set up “Libreng Tawag” (free call) centers in Bulelak Gym in Barangay Malanday and H. Bautista Elementary School in Barangay Concepcion Uno, two of the biggest evacuation sites in the city.

Bulelak has accommodated some 108 families or 551 individuals while H. Bautista has 139 families or 650 people.

“We are in constant evaluation of the situation. Once the residents return to their homes, we will transfer our Libreng Tawag stations to other places which may also need our assistance,” said Fernando Esguerra, OIC for corporate social responsibility.

The two areas are prone to flooding due to their proximity to the Marikina River, which was placed on alert two yesterday morning. Residents were advised to leave their homes in case the weather condition worsens.

Food and beverage giant San Miguel Corp. also donated some 3,000 cases of bottled water, over 1,500 boxes of canned goods and boxes of coffee to some 30,000 families in Parañaque City, Laguna and Cavite provinces.

Petron Foundation, for its part, donated goods for around 2,000 beneficiaries in Rosario. 

Petron said it is mobilizing resources and personnel to help in relief efforts and activated its disaster response teams composed of employee volunteers from the San Miguel group.

Petron said they are using their own fleet of flood rescue vehicles, including amphibious vehicles and speedboats, to help in rescue and relief efforts.

GMA’s Kapuso Foundation is currently conducting relief operations for typhoon victims through its Operation Bayanihan project.

The foundation said they were able to extend help to 1,840 individuals or 460 families in affected areas in San Mateo, Rizal and in Kawit, Cavite and Marikina, while a medical mission was conducted yesterday in Casiguran, Aurora as well as further relief operations in Biñan, Laguna and Bulacan.

From the government, Vice President Jejomar Binay led the distribution of relief goods to flood victims in Rosario and General Trias in Cavite.

Binay, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the Pag-IBIG Fund, led the distribution of some 1,000 relief bags to Rosario and another 1,000 in General Trias on Monday.

The Office of the Vice President jointly conducted the relief operations with the local government of Makati City led by Mayor Junjun Binay to local officials in Rosario and General Trias.