UN telecoms agency donates satellite phones, laptops

MANILA, Philippines - The United Nations telecommunications agency has provided satellite phones and laptops to the World Health Organization (WHO) and crisis response units of the Philippine government to support emergency humanitarian work in the wake of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announced that it will donate satellite terminals for both voice and high-speed data to the WHO.

The ITU has supplied 40 Thuraya satellite phones to facilitate health relief efforts in the worst-affected parts of the country.

“At a time when the Philippines is recovering from the Haiyan (Yolanda) crisis, relief efforts by UN humanitarian agencies are much needed to assist victims in the affected towns and villages,” ITU secretary-general Hamadoun Tour said.

The Geneva-based agency is also deploying an additional 50 satellite phones, including 25 Iridium Sat Phones, 10 Thuraya Sat Phones and 15 Inmarsat BGAN units, and 25 laptops to help people re-establish contact with their family members in other cities of the Philippines and abroad.

Richard Brennan, WHO director for emergency risk management and humanitarian response, thanked the ITU for its rapid assistance to fill a major resource gap in the health sector’s response to the crisis.

“These satellite phones will be of tremendous benefit to our humanitarian operations in support of the Philippine Ministry of Health, as well as WHO and its partners, helping us gather and manage information for disease surveillance, early warning systems and sectoral coordination,” he said.

Brahima Sanou, director of ITU’s telecommunication development bureau, said: “In dire situations such as the one in the Philippines, ITU stands ready to support UN agencies in their humanitarian effort to assist people caught up in such disasters, especially those who have been afflicted by illness and those who have been displaced from their homes.” 

More donations from US

For his part, Philippine Consul General Leo Herrera-Lim appealed for donations from individuals and corporations in the US.

Among the donors are Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White who chipped in $500 and Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn who gave a $1,000 personal check payable to Philippine Red Cross (PRC).

Thirteen-year-old Ma. Renzie Enaje of the Kilmer Middle School broke her piggy bank to donate the $139 she saved from her weekly allowance. Student organizations in George Mason University and University of Maryland have also initiated fund-raising activities for the typhoon victims.

Rose Tibayan, an organizer of a fund-raising activity, said that her group will visit the offices of Senators Dick Durbin and Mark Kirk to take signed letters supporting Quinn’s request to have a C-130 plane fly medical items and other relief goods to the Philippines.

For its part, Northern Trust Corp., a financial holding company based in Chicago, Illinois, announced a $150,000 donation which will be coursed through the American Red Cross.

In a letter to Northern Trust chairman and CEO Frederick Waddell, Lim said that the company’s “contribution will go a long way in helping our nation as we begin the daunting task of recovery and rebuilding.”

In a separate fund-raising for typhoon victims hosted by Lim and Filipino-American restaurateur Billy Dec last Friday at Sunda New Asian restaurant in Illinois, more than $45,500 was collected from more than 500 guests who dined on a special Filipino menu prepared by executive chefs Jess de Guzman and Mike Morales, both Filipino-Americans.

Soap from US inmates

Meanwhile, North Carolina’s prison system is shipping more than half a million bars of soap made by inmates to the Philippines as part of the international relief efforts.

A truckload of soap is scheduled to leave by the end of the week from Warren Correctional Institution, which includes a manufacturing plant where inmates produce janitorial products for the prison system.

For years, North Carolina has sold inmate-made soap for the nonprofit Mission to Provide a Cleaner Tomorrow, an Ohio-based ministry works to promote hygiene and education in developing nations.

The soap for the relief effort is provided to the ministry for $30,000, roughly what it cost the state to produce it. This week’s shipment is the second half of an order for approximately 580,000 two-ounce bars of soap.

Other foreign aid

Abbott and its philanthropic foundation Abbott Fund, on the other hand, are providing P19.6 million in grants and healthcare products to deliver immediate relief to the Philippines in the aftermath of Yolanda.

The Abbott Fund is giving P15.25 million in grants to CARE, Direct Relief and the PRC through the American Red Cross.

Abbott, meanwhile, is donating up to P4.35 million of critically needed products such as antibiotics, oral rehydration solutions and nutritionals to Direct Relief and AmeriCares.

For its part, the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW) has set up a water purification system serving 30,000 typhoon victims in Santa Fe in Bantayan Island, Cebu.

The water treatment facility houses a laboratory which regularly monitors the water produced after the purification process. The laboratory can also analyze samples from water sources in the region to check for potability.

The operations of the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief in the Philippines are funded by the German Federal Foreign Office in response to the recent devastation caused by Yolanda.

For its part, Prudence Foundation, the charity arm of Hong Kong-based Prudential Corp. Asia, has pledged $2 million for relief efforts.

Meanwhile, eight South Koreans with disabilities brought 5,000 pieces of Korean noodles, kimchi and clothes for typhoon victims.

The group’s leader, Jeon Beong Hee, chairman of Shi Hung City Organization of Seoul, said that around 500 South Korean soldiers are also set to arrive in the Philippines on Nov. 27 to help in the distribution of relief goods in the Visayas.

Local aid

Globe Telecom has extended its offer of 25 free text messages for five days. First offered last Nov. 13 to 17, the free service is available to Globe and TM subscribers in the provinces of Leyte, Samar, Cebu, Aklan, Antique and Capiz from Nov. 20 to 24.

“We decided to extend this offer as part of our Bangon Pinoy program as our way of lending a hand to those who badly need assistance. We’re providing this free service together with our relief operations, Libreng Tawag, charging and Internet centers, and other community rebuilding activities,” said Issa Cabrera, vice president for Globe‘s prepaid business.

For its part, shipping companies Magsaysay MOL Marine, Inc. and Mitsui OSK Lines, Ltd. held a charity event to collect donations from its seafarers. Magsaysay MOL also donated $30,000.

Relief efforts scaled up

With more areas devastated by Yolanda becoming accessible, the PRC and the International Red Cross Red Crescent Movement are scaling up their relief operations to help the survivors.

“We have been getting to more and more of those affected by this massive disaster, providing help. But the more we do, the more it becomes apparent that all those involved in relief efforts need to work together to scale up our collective efforts,” said PRC secretary-general Gwendolyn Pang.

PRC volunteers and staff have been setting up medical facilities, distributing food and other relief items and offering psychosocial support to those affected by the disaster.

The agency has also been helping people trace their missing loved ones in the areas ravaged by the typhoon.

Pang noted the immediate priority now is “getting food and non-food relief supplies such as hygiene kits, blankets, tarpaulins and jerry cans to some of the 2.5 million people in need of assistance.“

Binay thanks foreign contingents

Vice President Jejomar Binay yesterday thanked all foreign contingents who have given assistance to areas ravaged by Yolanda.

“We are grateful for all the aid and support given to our country in the wake of Typhoon Yolanda. I would like to thank all those who helped the Philippines as we continue to work towards full recovery from this tragedy,” Binay said.

On Saturday, Binay went on a shore visit in support of Operation Damayan in Guiuan, Eastern Samar being conducted by the George Washington Strike Group and the US 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade.

Binay was welcomed by Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, commander of the Battle Force 7th Fleet, and was shown around the operations center.

The admiral also joined Binay on an aerial inspection of the affected towns in Samar on board an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter.

“Guiuan was heavily affected by Typhoon Yolanda and I was told that they were isolated for many days. Thankfully, relief goods were able to be delivered thanks to using helicopters from the George Washington Strike Group and the US 3rd Marine Expeditionary Brigade,” Binay said. – With Lawrence Agcaoili, Pia Lee-Brago, Jose Rodel Clapano, Joseph Lariosa, Rudy Santos, AP