Congresswomen bring relief goods to Yolanda survivors

MANILA, Philippines - Members of the Association of Women Legislators Foundation, Inc. (AWLFI) led by Pangasinan Rep. Gina de Venecia distributed relief goods to nearly 6,000 families in Palo, Leyte late last month.

One of the recipients, Michael Abadia, 50, broke down as he recalled the day Super Typhoon Yolanda took the lives of his wife and their five children.

 â€œWe sought refuge in a two-story shelter with two other families, but it gave way. All 18 of them were gone. I should not have been spared,” he told the De Venecia group.

The group included Linabelle Ruth Villarica (Bulacan), Rosenda Ann Ocampo (Manila), Marie Anne Pernes (Siquijor), Magnolia Rosa Antonino-Nadres, (Nueva Ecija) and Victoria Noel (An-Waray), who is from Tacloban City.

De Venecia thanked her colleagues for their support, saying the relief mission was a true labor of love. For more than two weeks, the congresswomen took turns in packing the relief bags themselves at the Batasang Pambansa gymnasium.

“In great tragedies like this, equally important is the moral support for the victims. Their great loss will be lightened by their understanding that they are not alone,” De Venecia said.

“It is for this reason why I also brought with this mission the members of the INA (Inang Naulila sa Anak) Foundation who conducted grief counseling to the parents orphaned by their family members. Who could understand them better if not another parent who experienced the same grief?” she said.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman accompanied the AWLFI group during the relief distribution.

Residents and local officials thanked Soliman and the congresswomen for helping them.

De Venecia said that was just the first of a series of relief missions that would be jointly conducted by the women lawmakers and the INA Foundation.