INQUIRER Global Nation

MANILA, Philippines—Cash and relief goods for victims of tropical storms Ondoy and Pepeng are still arriving from foreign donors, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday.

The Asean Ladies Circle in Malaysia donated 3,000 ringgits (P48,000) which were used to purchase 12,000 water purification tablets, the Philippine embassy in Kuala Lumpur said in a report to the DFA headquarters in Manila. Established in 2005, the ALC is a civic association of women of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations community in Malaysia.

In Taiwan, the Manila Economic and Cultural Office said a 20-foot container van with relief goods would be shipped this weekend to Manila.

Antonio Basilio, Meco managing director and resident representative, said the assorted relief goods—including blankets, clothing, footwear, and food—were collected from thousands of kind-hearted Filipinos and Taiwanese.

He particularly thanked the Taiwanese Council of Labor Affairs and the Ugnayan Migrant and Immigrant Centers in Taipei and Taichung, Fo Guang Monastery, Taiwan Root Medical Mission, Taiwan International Health Action, and the Tagalog Fellowship of the Taipei International Church for joining in the charity drive.

In Hong Kong, the Philippine consulate general reported that the Filipino community in the Chinese territory raised about P4 million and sent more than 11 tons of relief goods.

Cash donations amounted to HK$ 667,002.39 (about P4 million) and over 750 packages of relief goods were collected as of October 31, according to the consulate.

The Philippine Bankers Club, an organization of Hong Kong-based Philippine banks, said they remitted, free of bank charges, cash donations of HK$400,794.69 (P2.404 million).

Similarly, Operation Migrante Sagip Kabayan by United Filipinos in Hong Kong reported cash donations amounting to HK$98,691.40 (P592,148.40).

The amount raised was for the benefit of Bayanihan Alay sa Sambayanan which benefited more than 7,000 families in Quezon City, Caloocan City, Rizal, and Laguna, among others.

On the other hand, the Filipino Catholic community in Hong Kong remitted HK$75,961.30 (P455,767.8) to Caritas Filipinas Foundation in Manila.

Other top donors included the Fortis Insurance Company (Asia) Ltd., which donated HK$50,000 (P300,000) to the Philippine National Red Cross and the Hong Kong Bayanihan Trust, a center that runs a skills-training facility for migrant workers, which sent 133 packages worth of relief goods to Manila.