Relief: How Filipinos abroad can help calamity victims


ANDREI MEDINA, GMA NEWS 

How can Filipinos abroad help victims of natural calamities in the Philippines, a country where some 20 typhoons pass each year?

The recent massive flooding in Luzon affected some 2.7 million people and caused the deaths of nearly 70 others.

Many Filipinos abroad were moved by the devastation brought about by days of continuous heavy rain and wanted to help.

GMA News Online has compiled a list of different organizations that accept donations for calamity victims.
 
Some of those organizations provided GMA News Online with information on how Filipinos abroad can send their donations:
 
Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU)
Quezon City
Website: www.admu.edu.ph

Jason Haw, ADMU student volunteer, said the official Facebook page of ADMU contained details of how monetary donations can be sent to the university.

Donations in Philippine currency may be made via the bills payment facility of the Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI).

For donations in US dollars, a wire transfer can be made via China Bank with the following details:
Beneficiary Customer: Ateneo de Manila University;

US$ S/A Account No. 101-732651-4

Beneficiary Bank: 803-3278-269; China Banking Corporation; Manila, Philippines; Swift Address: CHBKPHMM            

Donations made via wire transfer may be verified with Jeanette Salvania vpsd@admu.edu.ph, (632) 426-6001 local 4054. Official receipts will be in Philippine pesos.

 

University of Santo Tomas (UST)
Manila
Website: www.ust.edu.ph

Agree Gonzales, UST Central Student Council Vice President, said UST does not accept cash donations.

He said overseas donors may help by sending money to their families in the Philippines who in turn can purchase canned goods and supplies and drop them off at UST in Manila.
 
Donations in kind can be delivered at these drop-off points:
CSC office
Tan Yan Kee Student Center Lobby
Local Student Council Office
 
 
Gawad Kalinga (GK)
Website: www.gk1world.com

Donna Unsad, Community Organizer, NW Luzon/CAR Area Coordinating Team, told GMA News Online that it would be best to send in cash donations which will be used to buy food for the flood victims.
 
Donations can be sent through:
 
Gawad Kalinga US$ Savings Account # 3104 0162 34 BPI EDSA Greenhills (Swift code: BOPIPHMM)
 
Or for other online donations, please visit the GK’s official donation website.
 
 
LBC
Website: www.lbcexpress.com

Paul Bacay, Customer Service Agent, LBC Hotline, said LBC branches worldwide are accepting donations in cash or in kind for the flood victims.
 
For cash donations, there will be no fee but for donations in kind, the sender has to shoulder the shipping cost.

LBC will be turning over the donations to the Philippine Red Cross.
 
 
GMA Kapuso Foundation
Quezon City
Website: www.gmanetwork.com/kapusofoundation/

Jeffrey Balde, GMA Kapuso Foundation Executive Director, told GMA News Online Friday, that the foundation prefers monetary donations from overseas donors.
 
“Ang maganda sa cash, kung ano yung wala kami ang bibili,” he said.
 
The Kapuso Foundation accepts cash donations through:
 
UNITED COCONUT PLANTERS BANK (UCPB)
Bohol & Tomas Morato Branch
 
Dollar Savings
Account Name      :  GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number  :  01-115-301177-9                                                    
                                :  01-160-300427-6
Code                      :  UCPB PH MM
 
 
PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK (PNB)
Timog Branch
 
Dollar savings
Account Name      : GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number   : 121-0032000-25
Code                       : PNB MPH MM
 
 
BANCO DE ORO (BDO)
Timog Branch
 
Dollar Savings
Account Name      : GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.
Account Number   : 469-0072135
Code                    : BNORPHMM
 
 
Other details can be found in the official site of the Kapuso Foundation.
 


For donations in kind
 
In a Twitter conversation with a concerned citizen, Bureau of Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon clarified that overseas donors who send in relief goods should indicate the Department of Finance (DOF) as the consignee.
 
Genesis Samonte: “If foreigners want to donate medicine to the DOH, how do they go about customs requirements? @ruffybiazon”
 
 Ruffy Biazon: “@genesismay They should indicate DOH as a consignee and apply for exemption from DOH. Do it PRIOR to importing.”
 
Biazon later corrected himself, saying: “@genesismay correction, apply for exemption from DOF, not DOH”
 

Devastating deluge
 
Due to the heavy rains brought about by the monsoon enhanced by tropical cyclone "Haikui" earlier this week, Metro Manila and nearby provinces in Luzon were affected by massive flooding.
 
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the death toll as of August 11 (5:30 a.m) was at 66.
 
Some 598,622 families (or 2,684,843 people) in 16 provinces were affected.

Of these, 95,189 families (or 440,909 people) are being served in 937 evacuation centers.
 
The damage to property was estimated at P157,581,611.50.
- VVP, GMA News

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more