MM residents, gov’ts push on with Yolanda aid

MANILA, Philippines - Private sector groups and local government units in Metro Manila are joining hands to continue raising funds and donating relief goods for the survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

In Malabon, businessmen have pledged donations, according to Mayor Lenlen Oreta.

The city government has opened the city hall lobby to serve as a donation center for residents who wish to donate grocery items.

Oreta also said the city’s disaster risk reduction and management office sent a 10-man team to Tacloban and McArthur in Leyte and Hernani in Eastern Samar, together with two trucks of relief goods.

The team will help retrieve the dead, counsel the survivors and clear the typhoon-hit areas of debris.

Oreta said a fun run, which will be joined by city officials and employees, will be held tomorrow to raise additional relief goods for the survivors. Those who wish to join the race are asked to donate three pieces of canned goods as their registration fee.

Tent city shelters 91 more evacuees

At least 91 more evacuees from typhoon-devastated villages in Samar and Leyte have been accommodated by the Pasay City government at the tent city set up at the Villamor Airbase Elementary School, a city official said yesterday.

Pasay spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said the 46 men and 45 women arrived on board C-130 planes from Tacloban City. “We are expecting more evacuees to arrive,” he said.

The city government accommodated evacuees who have no relatives in Metro Manila. The tent city can accommodate a maximum of 100 families.

The city government and various donors have been providing evacuees with meals, water, clothes, electric fans, free phone calls, children’s coloring books and television sets with cable connection.

Mayor Antonino Calixto added that the “Yolanda Ward” at the Pasay City General Hospital is still operational and will continue to accept patients from Yolanda-stricken areas.

Makati to lend payloaders

The Makati City government will lend some payloaders in addition to five dump trucks sent earlier to Tacloban City for the relief and recovery operations, Mayor Jejomar Erwin Binay said yesterday.

He said the city government has also sent one bus to ferry evacuees from the airbase to their relatives and friends in Metro Manila.

Binay said city employees are also helping in relief operations led by Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez at the Barangay Valenzuela covered court in Makati.

He added that donations, in cash or in kind, and volunteers are welcome at the Barangay Poblacion covered court on J.P. Rizal street in front of the Makati Museum and the barangay hall. – Rey Galupo, Perseus Echeminada, Mike Frialde