Prayers, tears in Philippines one year after super typhoon

MANILA - Survivors of the strongest typhoon ever to hit land descended on mass graves Saturday to mark one year since the storm devastated the central Philippines and condemned millions to deeper poverty.

Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) claimed more than 7,350 lives as it swept in off the Pacific Ocean, with its record winds and once-in-a-generation storm surges flattening entire towns.

The typhoon tore across a corridor of islands where about 14 million people lived in farming and fishing communities that were already among the nation's poorest.

The rebuilding effort has been painfully slow for most survivors, with millions poorer and many dangerously exposed to the next big storm as they still live in shanty homes along coastal areas.

In an outpouring of grief, tens of thousands marched to the grave sites under the hot sun on Saturday to offer flowers, light candles and say prayers.

Josephine Crisostomo's three children died during the storm, including her youngest, who would have turned two years old on Sunday.

"I miss my children terribly, especially John Dave who would have celebrated his birthday tomorrow... I miss you, son, I love you so much," Crisostomo, 41, said at one of the mass graves in the outskirts of badly-hit Tacloban city.

Using felt-tip pens, mourners wrote names of those who died on the hundreds of white crosses planted on parched earth in symbolic gestures as the more than 2,000 people buried there had not been identified.

"I am looking for my brother, but his name is not on the list of those buried here," Elena Olendan, 50, told AFP, her eyes welling with tears, as she wandered around the grave site, about the size of six basketball courts.

Olendan had not reported her 60-year-old brother, Antonio, as missing when Haiyan struck. She found a cross on the far end of the mass grave and wrote her brother's name on it.

National day of prayer

The Philippines is a mainly Catholic country and many people in the typhoon zones, as well as across the nation, attended special church services.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines declared Saturday a national day of prayer, and church bells across the nation would ring at 6:00 pm to remember those who died or suffered in the storm.

The build-up to the anniversary had focused renewed attention on the pace of the reconstruction effort, with President Benigno Aquino's government criticised by many for a perceived lack of urgency.

Roughly one million people need to be moved away from coastal areas that are deemed vulnerable to storm surges, according to a 160-billion-peso ($3.6-billion) government master plan for rebuilding the typhoon zones.

However those plans have already fallen behind schedule, delayed by problems in finding new land that is safe and suitable for 205,000 new homes.

In a speech at the typhoon-hit town of Guiuan on Friday, Aquino defended the pace of the reconstruction programme, saying he was determined to ensure it was carried out correctly rather than rushing.

"Curse me, criticize me but I believe I must do the right thing," Aquino said.

"I am impatient like everyone else but I have to stress that we can't rebuild haphazardly. We have to build back better... let's get it right the first time and the benefits should be permanent."

Aquino also cited international aid agencies as saying post-Haiyan recovery efforts were moving faster compared with programs in Indonesia's Banda Aceh after it was hit by mega-tsunami waves in 2004.

And while millions endure Haiyan-exacerbated poverty, there has been some remarkable progress from a year ago as international aid agencies have pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into the region.

Some of the big successes of the campaign have been the restoration of electricity within a few months, quick replanting of crops and sanitation programmes that prevented major outbreaks of killer diseases.

source: interaksyon.com

Second Japanese medical team arrives to take over duties of the first in Tacloban

Shown are 37 members of the second batch of the Japan Disaster Relief (JDR) medical team that will take over the duties of the first team currently based in Tacloban, one of the cities flattened by typhoon Yolanda.

Like the first team, the second batch--which arrived Wednesday 1:30 p.m. onboard a chartered Japanese Airlines flight--will undertake medical relief activities in Leyte, the Japanese Embassy in Manila said.

Besides dispatching medical relief teams, Japan has provided a total of $52.1 million in aid, including Emergency Grant Aid of $30 million, Emergency Relief Goods worth $600,000, Assistance through Japanese NGOs valued at $1.5 million, and some $20 million in a Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction (JFPR) of the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB).

source: interaksyon.com

Philippines counts the cost of Typhoon Haiyan

Super Typhoon Haiyan's devastating assault on the central Philippines exerted a catastrophic human cost, but analysts say its impact on one of Asia's fastest growing economies will be less traumatic.

The national economy has been on an upswing for the past five years and expanded 7.6 percent in the first half of 2013 -- a remarkable turnaround for a country once seen as an irredeemable non-achiever.

The government targeted gross domestic product (GDP) growth of between 6.0 and 7.0 percent for the whole year, and now the question is whether that needs to be re-calibrated in the wake of the typhoon damage.

The Philippines is no stranger to natural disasters, but Haiyan was in a class of its own, packing some of the strongest winds ever recorded by a storm making landfall.

More than 4,000 people were killed and up to 4.4 million displaced -- twice the number that lost their homes after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

According to the International Labour Organisation, around five million workers -- equivalent to the population of Norway -- had their livelihoods temporarily or permanently destroyed.

Risk modelling specialists such as AIR Worldwide have forecast the total economic loss at anywhere between $6.5 billion and $15 billion dollars.

But as grim as those statistics are, the macro economic cost of Typhoon Haiyan will, according to initial estimates from various sources, be lighter than might have been expected from a storm of such destructive power.

The typhoon barrelled through some of the poorest regions in the country, sparing any significant manufacturing base and largely impacting agricultural areas producing rice and coconut.

"The affected areas account for a relatively small proportion of GDP, so the impact on headline GDP is likely to be small and manageable," Credit Suisse said in a report that questioned forecasts suggesting Haiyan would shave one percentage point off the 2013 annual growth rate.

"Exports of agricultural products will be impacted, but they form a relatively small portion of overall exports," the report said.

There is some concern over a spike in inflation triggered by higher rice prices, but most estimates predict it would be short-lived, especially if enough rice seed is provided for the crucial December-January planting season.

The Philippine central bank has indicated it would consider tweaking monetary policy if the typhoon's inflationary legacy persists, but said economic growth goals for the year were still achievable.

"Our own runs (projections) show that 2013 GDP growth could still be within the government's target range, as rehabilitation efforts could make up for lost production," bank governor Amando Tentangco told the Wall Street Journal.

Economists such as Ronald Mendoza, executive director at the Asian Institute of Management in Manila, believe the reconstruction effort could prove to be the silver lining in the Haiyan story.

"There is a real opportunity here to encourage inclusive growth in a historically impoverished region that has been largely disconnected from those elements driving the national economy," Mendoza said.

"An ambitious rebuilding programme would not just be good for the region. It would also send an important message to foreign investors about the country's resilience and its ability to bounce back from crisis," he added.

The Philippines reached an important milestone this year as, one after the other, the three global rating agencies granted the country investment-grade status.

The move reflected higher growth, political stability and improved governance -- all of which have stimulated the interest of overseas investors.

The Credit Suisse report said the post-Haiyan reconstruction effort would boost GDP in 2014, and it also forecast a short-term shot in the arm for the country's current account delivered by a spike in overseas remittances.

The amount of money Filipinos living abroad send home every year is equivalent to 10 percent of GDP and previous disasters have traditionally seen a sharp jump of up to 15 percent in the size of the remittances.

But even the best-case economic scenario envisages a long, grim struggle for the millions of traumatised victims of Haiyan, for whom silver linings offer little immediate relief.

"Beyond the estimates of damage and reconstruction, it is important to consider the intangible losses," said Danilo Israel, senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Developmental Studies.

"The loss in human lives, the loss of bio-diversity, the destruction of heritage sites, the loss of relationships -- it's difficult to put a value on these intangibles, which can sometimes have a big impact on economic growth."

source: interaksyon.com

UK says several Britons missing after Philippines typhoon

LONDON - Several British nationals are missing following the typhoon that has killed thousands in the Philippines, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Saturday.

"The foreign secretary confirmed that a number of British nationals remained unaccounted for," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

A ministry spokesman declined to specify how many Britons were missing.

In a phone call to his Philippine counterpart Albert del Rosario, Hague offered his condolences in the wake of the devastating Super Typhoon Haiyan of November 8 and asked for "every possible assistance" to be given to Britons caught up in the disaster, the ministry said.

Britain's Channel Four News had on Friday reported that British pharmacist Colin Bembridge, 61, had gone missing with his Filipino partner Maybelle and their three-year-old daughter while visiting relatives near the now-devastated city of Tacloban.

British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday announced that Britain was providing a further £30 million ($48 million, 36 million euros) to help the relief effort, in addition to the £23 million already pledged.

A British warship, HMS Daring, is due to arrive at the Philippines' Cebu island on Sunday after making its way from Singapore.

Helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious -- the largest ship in the British navy -- was also due to be deployed along with a Royal Air Force C-17 transport aircraft.

Authorities in the Philippines have put the official death toll at 3,633, with 1,179 people missing and nearly 12,500 injured.

The UN has put the number of dead at 4,460 and said Saturday that 2.5 million people still "urgently" required food assistance.

source: interaksyon.com

Fil-Am ‘Glee’ star Darren Criss asks fans to donate to Yolanda victims

“Glee” star Darren Criss took to Twitter (@DarrenCriss) Friday to urge fans to donate to the victims of supertyphoon Yolanda, which wrought destruction in Eastern Visayas a week ago.

He asked that they give at least $25 to the United Nations World Food Programme, which will help fund emergency meals for the survivors of the disaster.

Donors can then take a photo of their transaction, e-mail it to dcnotalone@gmail.com, and in return, Criss will send them an autographed postcard that says “You’re not alone”. All the donors’ names will also be printed on the same.

In a post on his website, he said his mother and most of his family hail from the Philippines, specifically Cebu. “…As a result I have always been proud of my Filipino heritage, as well as lucky enough to feel the tremendous support of the Filipino community throughout my life as an artist,” he wrote.

Criss, who plays the openly gay student Blaine Anderson on the musical show, thanked those who made their concern about his family back in the Philippines known, and conveyed at the same time his solidarity with the victims of the calamity.

He added that he hoped people would pass on his plea for donations, saying, “People are in need now.” He encouraged them to send their donations by Monday, November 18.

As of early afternoon Friday, Manila time, more than 150 have donated — less than an hour after his post.

Criss is quite close to Lea Salonga. In 2011, the two performed Aladdin’s “A Whole New World” on stage at the Billboard/Hollywood Reporter Film and TV Music Conference in Los Angeles. This week they were at a New York piano bar together, where they also performed a few songs.

source: interaksyon.com

US aircraft carrier starts storm relief as Aquino comes under pressure

TACLOBAN, Philippines - A US aircraft carrier "strike group" started unloading food and water to the typhoon-ravaged central Philippines on Thursday, as President Benigno Aquino III faced mounting pressure to speed up the distribution of supplies.

While relief efforts picked up, local authorities began burying the dead - an important, if grim, milestone for a city shredded by one of the world's most powerful typhoons and the tsunami-like wall of seawater believed to have killed thousands.

Many petrol station owners whose businesses were spared have refused to reopen, leaving little fuel for trucks needed to move supplies and medical teams around the devastated areas nearly a week after Super Typhoon Yolanda (international code name: Haiyan) struck.

"I cannot use a truck to collect cadavers in the morning and then use it to distribute relief goods in the afternoon," said Alfred Romualdez, mayor of Tacloban, a city of 220,000 people reduced to rubble in worst-hit Leyte province.

"The choice is to use the same truck either to distribute food or collect bodies."

The Philippine coastguard on Thursday confirmed the death of a 69-year-old Dutch tourist, whose body was found on Monday near the western Philippine island of Palawan.

The nuclear-powered USS George Washington aircraft carrier and accompanying ships arrived off wind-swept eastern Samar province, carrying 5,000 crew and more than 80 aircraft, after what strike force commander Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery called a "high-speed transit" from Hong Kong.

It is moored near where US General Douglas MacArthur's force of 174,000 men landed on October 20, 1944, in one of the biggest allied victories of World War Two.

"Operation Damayan" started with the George Washington and two cruisers taking up position off Samar to assess damage and provide logistical and emergency support such as fresh water.

Ships carried 11 pallets ashore - eight containing 1,920 gallons of water and three containing food - at Tacloban airfield. Several pallets of water were taken to Guiuan, Eastern Samar, home to 45,000 people, which was also badly hit by the storm when it made its first landfall there.

The carrier moved some fixed-wing aircraft ashore to make more room for the helicopters on the flight deck.

"One of the best capabilities the strike group brings is our 21 helicopters," Montgomery said in a statement. "These helicopters represent a good deal of lift to move emergency supplies around."

US President Barack Obama urged Americans to donate generously to their former Asian colony.

Relief channels slowly opening up

US officials said relief channels were slowly opening up with the reopening of a main road.

Ships and planes from Asia-Pacific nations and Europe are also converging on the Philippines, bearing food, water, medical supplies, tents and other essentials to a population in dire need of the basics of life.

Britain also said it would send a helicopter carrier, HMS Illustrious, to help in the relief effort.

Prime Minister David Cameron dispatched the biggest vessel in Britain's own fleet while heavy transport planes carrying equipment such as forklift trucks have already arrived.

The Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), a coordinating body for British aid charities, said it had raised 23 million pounds ($37 million) in the first 48 hours of launching an appeal for the Philippines.

"The public's reaction to the sheer devastation that has been left by Typhoon Haiyan is quite simply remarkable. We are so grateful for the huge amount of donations which are vital to fund the work done by our emergency teams," DEC chief executive Saleh Saeed said.

Japan was also planning to send up to 1,000 troops as well as naval vessels and aircraft, in what could be Tokyo's biggest postwar military deployment.

But on the ground, the meager aid that was getting through was still inadequate, with distribution hampered by fears of armed looters and by broken infrastructure.

Sick or injured people lie helplessly among the ruins of buildings, while those with the energy try to leave a place that resembles hell.

Efren Nagrama, area manager at the civil aviation authority, said conditions were "very dire now" as he surveyed the filthy stream of humanity at Tacloban's battered airport clamoring to get a flight out.

"You see hundreds coming to the compound every day. People who have walked for days without eating, only to arrive here and be made to wait for hours or days under the elements," he said.

"People are pushed to the tipping point -- they see relief planes but cannot get to the food nor get a ride out. There is chaos."

Mass burials

Almost a week after Haiyan swept through the country's central islands, desperation was still apparent and many of the dead remained unburied.

Outside Taclaban, burials began for about 300 bodies in a mass grave on Thursday. A larger grave will be dug for 1,000, city administrator Tecson John Lim told Reuters.

Around 110 corpses were interred in a mass grave Thursday before heavy-digging machinery broke down, said Mayor Romualdez.

They were placed at the bottom of a huge pit that is expected to be several layers deep by the time it is covered over with earth.

"There are still so many cadavers in so many areas. It's scary," Romualdez said, adding that retrieval teams were struggling to cope.

"There would be a request from one community to collect five or 10 bodies and when we get there, there are 40," he said, describing aid agencies' response to the crisis as too slow.

Romualdez said the people of Tacloban needed an "overwhelming response" from aid organizations and the government.

"We need more manpower and more equipment," Romualdez pleaded. "A six-day-old body is quite heavy. You would need three or four people to carry it.

"Let's get the bodies out of the streets. They are creating an atmosphere of fear and depression."

City officials estimate that they have collected 2,000 bodies but insist many more need to be retrieved. The UN fears that 10,000 people may have died in Tacloban city alone, but President Aquino has described that figure as "too much".

While the retrieval of the dead gets going, there are growing fears for the health of those who survived.

The World Health Organization says there are significant injuries that need to be dealt with -- open wounds that can easily become infected in the sweltering tropical heat.

Experts warn that a reliable supply of clean drinking water is vital if survivors are not to fall victim to diarrhea, which can lead to dehydration and death, especially in small children.

The city government remains paralyzed, with an average of just 70 workers compared to 2,500 normally, he added. Many were killed, injured, lost family or were simply too overcome with grief to work.

The government was distributing 50,000 "food packs" containing 6 kg (13 lb) of rice and canned goods each day, but that covers just 3 percent of the 1.73 million families affected by the typhoon.

Aquino in spotlight

Aquino has been on the defensive over his handling of the storm given warnings of its projected strength and the risk of a storm surge, and now the pace of relief efforts.

He has said the death toll might have been higher had it not been for the evacuation of people and the readying of relief supplies, but survivors from worst-affected areas say they had little warning of a tsunami-like wall of water.

Aquino has also stoked debate over the extent of the casualties, citing a much lower death toll than the 10,000 estimated by local authorities. Official confirmed deaths stood at 2,357 on Thursday, a figure aid workers expect to rise.

City administrator Lim, who on Sunday estimated 10,000 likely died in Tacloban alone, said Aquino may be deliberately downplaying casualties.

"Of course he doesn't want to create too much panic. Perhaps he is grappling with whether he wants to reduce the panic so that life goes on," he said.

The preliminary number of missing as of Thursday, according to the Red Cross, remained at 22,000. It has cautioned that that number could include people who have since been located.

Tacloban's main convention center, the Astrodome, has become temporary home for hundreds of people living in abject squalor. Families cooked meals amid the stench of garbage and urine. Debris was strewn along rows of seats rising from dark pools of stagnant water.

"We went into the Astrodome and asked who is in charge and just got blank stares," said Joe Lowry, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration, which is setting up camps for the displaced.

Survivors formed long queues under searing sunshine, and then torrential rain, to charge mobile phones from the only power source available: a city hall generator. Others started to repair motorbikes and homes. A rescue worker cleared debris near a wall with the spray-painted words "We need food".

More the 544,600 people have been displaced and nearly 12 percent of the population affected, the United Nations said. But many areas still have not received aid.

"It's true, there are still areas that we have not been able to get to where people are in desperate need," UN humanitarian aid chief Valerie Amos, who had visited the shattered city of Tacloban on Wednesday, told reporters in Manila. "I very much hope that in the next 48 hours, that will change significantly.

"Yes, I do feel that we have let people down because we have not been able to get in more quickly.

"Those who have been able to leave have done so. Many more are trying. People are extremely desperate for help," she said.

"We need to get assistance to them now. They are already saying it has taken too long to arrive. Ensuring a faster delivery is our... immediate priority."

The world body's leader Ban Ki-moon, currently in Latvia, later added UN agencies and teams "are on the ground to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance".

"Especially in the southern part there are tens of thousands of people exposed to the elements. We are doing everything possible to rush assistance to those who need it."

Anger and frustration

Anger and frustration have been boiling over as essential supplies fail to reach many of those in need. Food and other goods have stacked up at the airport in Tacloban, for instance.

Some areas have appeared to teeter near anarchy amid widespread looting of shops and warehouses for food and water.

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) described a bleak situation in Guiuan.

"People are living out in the open ... The needs are immense and there are a lot of surrounding villages that are not yet covered by any aid organizations," Alexis Moens, MSF's assessment team leader, said in a statement.

Lim said 90 percent of Tacloban had been destroyed by the typhoon and the wall of seawater it shoved ashore. Only 20 percent of residents were getting aid while houses were being looted because warehouses were empty, he added.

There were also not enough flights from Tacloban airport to cope with the exodus from the stricken city.

Many people complained that military families were given priority to board the C-130 cargo planes.

"If you have a friend or relative in the military, you get priority," said Violeta Duzar, 57, who had waited at the airport since Sunday with eight family members, including children.

The overall financial cost of the destruction was hard to assess. Initial estimates varied widely, with a report from German-based CEDIM Forensic Disaster Analysis putting the total at $8 billion to $19 billion. (Additional Reuters reports from Rosemarie Francisco and Eric dela Cruz in Manila, Phil Stewart in Washington and Greg Torode in Hong Kong)

source: interaksyon.com

DOH orders price freeze on 200 essential medicines for Yolanda victims

MANILA, Philippines - Health Secretary Enrique Ona has ordered a price freeze on about 200 essential medicines nationwide to ensure the availability of supplies for the victims of super typhoon Yolanda (international code name: Haiyan).

The price freeze takes effect immediately and covers all public and private drug outlets, including hospital pharmacies.

Ona has encouraged consumers to lodge their complaints against any violation, as he warned drug manufacturers, traders and retailers to strictly implement the order.

He said a price freeze “means that suppliers, pharmacies and hospitals should not unduly hike the prices of essential drugs from their prevailing prices before the occurrence of the calamity.”

“Securing the health and safety of the typhoon victims is an immediate priority of the DOH (Department of Health).  We have to make sure that they have access to the medicines that they need and that public hospitals and government agencies are able to source affordable drugs to reach as many of our countrymen severely affected by this crisis,” he said.

The essential drugs are for physical and mental trauma and injury, diarrhea, pneumonia, skin diseases and other infections such as leptospirosis and other endemic diseases in affected areas.

Other essential drugs covered by the price freeze include those that address common chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and asthma that are “likely to be aggravated by the anxiety and stress as well as the difficult conditions faced on a daily basis by the victims”

The DOH fears an increase in many diseases due to the lack of clean water and food; breakdown in water and sanitation facilities; the severe state of primary health facilities and the continued harsh conditions in the Yolanda-affected areas.

The Price Act (Republic Act 7581) mandates the DOH to “automatically freeze the prices of essential drugs classified as basic commodities or impose maximum price ceilings particularly in times of calamities to protect consumers from profiteering, hoarding, cartels and other such violations by traders who may take advantage of the calamity situation.”

Ona has tasked all DOH regional directors to monitor the prices of essential drugs and make sure there is no overpricing especially in calamity-stricken areas.

source: interaksyon.com

Obama urges Americans to chip in for 'Yolanda' survivors

WASHINGTON -- US President Barack Obama on Wednesday encouraged Americans to donate money to support aid for survivors of Super Typhoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan), which ripped through the Philippines, destroying life, property and infrastructure.

Obama bemoaned the "awful destruction" of the typhoon, one of the most powerful on record, and directed Americans to the White House website where they could link up with aid organizations working to alleviate the suffering.

"Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the people of the Philippines as they mourn so many loved ones and neighbors lost in the awful destruction of Typhoon Haiyan," Obama said.

"The friendship between our two countries runs deep, and when our friends are in trouble, America helps," Obama said in a statement. "With so many families and communities in the Philippines in urgent need of food, water, shelter and medicine, even small contributions can make a big difference and help save lives."

US officials meanwhile voiced optimism that American assets, including cargo planes and versatile Osprey aircraft, would help bring help to victims still cut off by the storm.

The USS George Washington carrier and other Navy ships are steaming towards the ally and Washington has committed $20 million, roughly half for food and the rest to prevent diseases in the wake of the Typhoon.

"I would say we are cautiously optimistic that we are starting to turn a corner on some of the logistics challenges," a US official told reporters on a conference call.

The Philippines faced a daunting task after the typhoon struck last week, with supplies piling up at the small airport in the flattened city of Tacloban.

The official said relief workers were now able to get more aid out of the airport and that the opening of a land route has provided a significant boost by connecting to a port.

"We are cautiously optimistic that that will be a pretty significant game-changer," he said.

The initial effort was "a lot like trying to squeeze an orange through a straw. We are now getting more straws, if you will, and bigger straws," he said.

Another US official said "over 1,000" American troops could be on the ground by the end of the week, up from around 300.

The US Marines Corps said four MV-22 Ospreys have left the US Futenma base in Japan, expanding the number of Osprey aircraft involved in the emergency work to eight.

The Osprey can land and take off like a helicopter but fly at the speed of an airplane, covering four times the distance of a traditional chopper.

Eight MC-130 cargo aircraft, a variant of the Hercules plane, also were deployed to reinforce the relief operation for victims of Typhoon Haiyan, increasing the fleet of cargo planes to 12 to help with deliveries of food, water and other emergency items.

As of Tuesday, a team of US Marines already on the ground has delivered 129,000 pounds (nearly 60 metric tons) of relief supplies for the effort dubbed "Operation Damayan," or "Help in Time of Need."

The USS George Washington escorted by two cruisers and a destroyer comes with 11 helicopters as well as dozens of planes and the capacity to desalinate large volumes of water.

Another American destroyer and a supply ship were en route to the disaster zone and two amphibious ships, the USS Germantown and the USS Ashland, set off Tuesday from the port of Sasebo in southern Japan.

The Germantown and the Ashland are equipped with landing craft and amphibious vehicles, medical facilities and desalination systems.

Another amphibious ship, the USS Denver, remains on standby in Sasebo for deployment, a Navy official said.

According to UN estimates, 10,000 people may have died in the typhoon and nearly 10 million people -- or 10 percent of the Philippines' population -- have been affected.

source: interaksyon.com

Donations tax-free, but BIR asks aid givers to touch base with NDRRMC, DSWD-accredited agencies

MANILA – No tax or duty is being imposed on donations coming in for areas hit by super typhoon Yolanda, but the Bureau of Internal Revenue is advising all donors to coordinate with the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (NDRRMC) or the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to ensure the tax-free status, allow the government to track and acknowledge all donations, and guarantee they go only to victims.

BIR chief Kim Jacinto-Henares made this clear Thursday as a flood of donations from at least 36 countries and international organizations led by the UN have come in the past several days, along with spontaneous acts of mercy by private volunteer groups, companies and concerned Filipinos from abroad.

The government, said Henares, will shoulder the 12-percent value-added tax by way of a tax expenditure, so it’s important, especially for major donor initiatives, to coordinate with the relief agencies accredited with DSWD or the NDRRMC.

“Please coordinate with DSWD about the VAT because they have a mechanism to address that… The donation to NDRRMC is also duty exempt; if there’s going to be any VAT, it’s going to be supported via the GAA, it’s going to be paid for by the national government via tax expenditure fund.”

She added, “There’s really no tax because it’s going to be shouldered by the government by budget support by as long as the donation is made to NDRRMC. Now, for donations made to accredited relief agencies of DSWD…It’s the same—it’s duty exempt . . .They should coordinate with DSWD so the VAT can properly be answered for.”

Asked if government is keeping track of the donations, she replied, “yes, that’s why they have to go through customs. We keep track of it and make sure it’s a legitimate donation. Unfortunately, there are some people . . . I mean, as far as we are concerned, everyone is in the mode of helping people but unfortunately, as you can see from experience in Tacloban, there are people who take advantage of the misery of other people."

Smugglers, keep out

Henares added: "So what we want to do is provide assistance to those who need it and really give the benefit [tax breaks] of all these things to those people who are really helping, and not to the people who are lawless like smugglers. Because we know there are people who will take advantage of it. Although that should be our real concern at this time, but…. although everyone is paying attention to the people affected directly, if we [BIR, finance agencies] do not also manage this, it will affect the other farmers, other entities [that] need protection from the government."

She said "The system has to be put in place and customs people and DOF people have put a one-stop shop in the ports where DSWD and NDRRMC are. From what I understand we have been doing this every time. It’s been going on smoothly as far as DSWD is concerned. Of course, there are some people who encounter difficulty because they have never done this. Some people who will just suddenly bring in things without coordinating with others, [and of course, problems are bound to arise]. They should coordinate with DSWD and NDRRMC.

Considering this is the biggest logistical and humanitarian challenge for disaster-prone Philippines, Henares said the avalanche of aid is understandable. This is why, she stressed, all those who help should be acknowledged and their task facilitated. “We have to keep track and eventually say thank you. We have to acknowledge aid coming in. If we don’t keep track, how do we acknowledge; when people say they provided aid, we want to say show them it really went to people. So we want to keep track to make sure aid being brought to us is not wasted.”

source: interaksyon.com

Unreliable power, poor security keep Tacloban banks, ATMs shuttered -- BSP

MANILA - Banks in Tacloban cannot reopen just yet, as the typhoon-ravaged city still has no reliable power and telecommunications service, according to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP).

BSP Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla Jr. told InterAksyon.com that Tacloban residents would have to transact in banks located in n Maasin, Southern Leyte and Catbalogan, Samar in the meantime.  

In any case, bank customers would have to contend with shortened operating hours because of limited electricity and poor communications, he said.


“Security is also a concern,” Espenilla said, adding that this is the reason why offsite ATMs remain closed.

About 44 banking and micro-banking offices, as well as 146 ATMs in Tacloban remain shuttered. These include 28 universal and commercial banks, six thrift banks, and 10 rural banks.

source: interaksyon.com

JLo, Rihanna, other previous Manila visitors tweet love, support for Yolanda victims

International celebrities who have visited the Philippines recently or in the not-too-distant past have expressed their concern for the victims of killer typhoon in Yolanda on Twitter.

These include graphic novelist Neil Gaiman, basketball superstars Kobe Bryant and Jeremy Lin, rockers Slash and The Fray and R&B and dance divas Rihanna, Jennifer Lopez, Alicia Keys and “American Idol” Filipino-American sensation Jessica Sanchez.

source: interaksyon.com

Flights on bigger aircraft to be mounted from Tacloban starting Thursday noon

Starting Thursday noon, two flights on bigger aircraft will be mounted from the Tacloban airport, allowing more passengers to be carried out of the disaster-stricken city.

Commercial carriers PAL Express and Cebu Pacific Airlines will be allowed to mount flights on Airbus A320 or Boeing B373 planes which can accommodate more passengers per flight, the Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines (CAAP) said on Wednesday.

Earlier, the CAAP placed priority on military planes and aircraft that carry relief supplies and equipment, and commercial flights using turboprop aircraft to hasten take-offs and landing.

source: interaksyon.com

iTunes now accepts donations for Yolanda victims

MANILA, Philippines — Financial donations for victims of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) can now be coursed through iTunes.

Apple said in a statement that the donation may be made using an iTunes account and will be directly transferred to the relief of the American Red Cross for the typhoon victims. Transfers can be made in tranches of $5 to $200.

As Apple does not share information regarding the personal details of its iTunes users with the American Red Cross, the donation will be acknowledged by an email receipt from the iTunes store.

The donation will also appear on the credit card statement as a transaction with the iTunes store.

source: interaksyon.com

Amphibious vehicles to boost global Philippine aid effort

Amphibious vehicles carrying hundreds of US Marines have been ordered into action to help relief efforts in the hard-to-reach Philippines typhoon disaster zone.

The ships will ferry hundreds of troops into storm-ravaged parts of the country where broken infrastructure is badly hampering aid deliveries and adding to a growing sense of desperation among survivors of the horrendous storm.

The deployment, which will see the vessels sent from southern Japan, is the latest US contribution to the global bid to help the Philippines, which is staggering under the weight of possibly its worst-ever humanitarian disaster.

Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft, which were deployed earlier this week and can land and take off like a helicopter but fly like a plane, and amphibious assault vehicles give the US military greater reach in a region where many communities are still cut off.

Aircraft carrier the USS George Washington, with 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircraft aboard, along with five warships from its battle group, were heading to the Philippines to join more than 200 US Marines already on the ground. A British warship was also on its way to the Philippines.

The UN estimates that more than 11.3 million Filipinos have been affected, with 673,000 made homeless, since Haiyan--one of the most powerful typhoons ever--smashed into the nation's central islands on Friday.

The UN on Tuesday launched a flash appeal for $301 million to help with the immediate aftermath of the disaster, which it has said could have already cost 10,000 lives.

Other significant aid steps include:

-- Britain said it was offering 14 million pounds ($22 million) in disaster relief and ongoing prevention programmes. A public appeal by an umbrella group of charities in the UK has also been launched, with London committing itself to matching the first five million pounds donated, taking its total commitment so far to as much as $30 million.

-- The International Labour Organization said it was working to put in place emergency employment and cash-for-work programmes as part of the UN's appeal. The ILO estimates that three million people have lost their livelihoods, at least temporarily. It says nearly half of these are vulnerable workers -- subsistence farmers or fishermen.

-- The Mexican government announced Tuesday that it was donating $1 million to help victims of the super typhoon in the Philippines.

-- The United Arab Emirates, Australia and Japan have pledged $10 million each.

-- Indonesia has offered $2 million in cash and emergency supplies, along with a transport plane packed with food, medicines, water filters and generators.

-- The European Commission said it would give 13 million euros ($17 million).

-- South Korea approved $5 million in emergency aid and dispatched a 40-member team including medical personnel.

-- Samsung Group donated $1 million dollars through international aid groups and HSBC said it was donating the same sum.

-- New Zealand will give NZ$2.15 million ($1.78 million).

-- Canada has promised up to $5 million to aid organisations.

-- Malaysia readied a relief crew and Singapore offered cash aid, while India said it was sending an aircraft with 15 tonnes of relief materials.

-- China, where the typhoon killed several people, is to give $100,000 towards the aid effort.

-- Taiwan sent two C-130 Hercules transport aircraft carrying relief goods and pledged $200,000 in cash.

-- Vietnam, itself faced with mass evacuations as a weakened Haiyan swung through its territory Monday, has offered aid worth $100,000.

-- Germany's embassy in Manila said an initial shipment of 23 tonnes of aid was being flown in and German rescue teams were already at work.

-- UNICEF sent a cargo plane carrying 60 tonnes of aid including shelters and medical kits while refugee agency UNHCR organised an airlift.

-- The ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management will send an initial $500,000 in aid from Subang in Malaysia.

-- Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said it was sending 329 tonnes of medical and relief items which will arrive in Cebu within the next few days in four cargo planes.

source: interaksyon.com

'Yolanda' exacts P6.87 billion toll on farm sector

MANILA - Damage to the country's agriculture sector brought about by Typhoon 'Yolanda' climbed to P6.87 billion, surpassing that caused by tropical storm 'Santi'.

The latest figure from the Department of Agriculture (DA) is nearly double the P3.7 billion the agency reported earlier.

'Yolanda' lay to waste 134,085 hectares of farmland, of which 81,056 hectares were planted to rice. The typhoon destroyed 137,225 metric tons of palay worth P2.23 billion.

Next to rice, the coconut sector incurred P1.49 billion in losses, as Eastern Visayas, which produces a fifth of the country's coconuts, sustained the heaviest damage among the three regions in the Visayas.

Coconuts are the country's top agriculture export and comprises a fourth of the Philippines' merchandise shipments.

The fisheries sector incurred P1.15 billion in losses, followed by the corn industry, with 9,061 hectares laid to waste, destroying 9,452 metric tons worth P117.41 million.

The damage to irrigation facilities reached P1.01 billion.

In light of the heavy toll on Eastern Visayas, the National Food Authority (NFA) is shipping grains from its warehouses in Central Visayas.

“Food items will be moved from the production areas to affected places utilizing DA-supported market mechanisms such as the Barangay Food Terminal/LGU food trading centers,” said Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala.

“Functional food warehouses will also be utilized for food stocking,” he said.

Besides rice, the government is sending six refrigerated vans -- three from Manila and Baguio and another three from Albay -- containing frozen chicken, potatoes and other vegetables to Eastern Visayas.

Non-refrigerated vans containing eggs and other dry items would also be sent to Eastern Visayas.
The DA will deploy the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources' 1,200-ton vessel anchored in Cagayan de Oro, as well as smaller ships to ferry food items.
Apart from its own equipment, the government has tapped San Miguel Corp to provide poultry supply.

Alacal said the Philippine Coconut Authority will distribute chain-saws for clearing operations, using idle labor in typhoon-ravaged areas to man the equipment for P300 a day.

As for municipal fishermen, the government will provide 1,300 fishing boats equipped with five-horsepower engines and nets.

source: interaksyon.com

PNoy puts typhoon death toll at 2,000 to 2,500

The death toll from Typhoon "Yolanda's" (international codename: Haiyan) rampage through the Philippines is closer to 2,000 or 2,500 than the 10,000 previously estimated, President Benigno Aquino III said on Tuesday as US and British warships headed toward his nation to help with relief efforts.

"Ten thousand, I think, is too much," Aquino told CNN in an interview. "There was emotional drama involved with that particular estimate."

Eduardo del Rosario, executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, also dismissed the earlier toll, saying, “Walang katotohanan ‘yun (There's no truth to that).”

The original estimate was given by Police Regional Office 8 director Chief Superintendent Elmer Soria a day after  about the casualty figure.

“We had a meeting last night with the governor and, based on the government's estimates, initially there are 10,000 casualties (dead),” Soria said at the time, referring to the whole of Leyte.

Aquino said the government was still gathering information from various storm-struck areas and the death toll may rise.

"We're hoping to be able to contact something like 29 municipalities left wherein we still have to establish their numbers, especially for the missing, but so far 2,000, about 2,500, is the number we are working on as far as deaths are concerned," he said.

The NDRRMC, in its 7 a.m. Wednesday update, placed the number of fatalities so far at 1,833, with 84 missing and 2,623 injured.

“'Yung figures natin ng casualty ay nanggagaling sa local government units, ‘yun ay ini-report sa atin officially at ‘yun ang kinukuha natin. Kasi kapag kinuwenta natin lahat ‘yung inire-report on the ground, baka magkaroon ng double or triple counting at sumobra ‘yung ating ire-report (Our casualty figures come from the local government units, that's what they report officially and that's what we get. Because if we gather all the reports on the ground, we might have double or triple counting and the report will be bloated). So, we are only getting reports coming from LGUs,” del Rosario said, explaining the slow pace of the agency's reporting on casualties.

He cited reports of 2,000 missing in Samar compared to the NDRRMC's count only 82 but added that the conflicting figures would eventually be reconciled.



Philippine officials have been overwhelmed by Yolanda, one of the strongest typhoons on record, which tore through the central Philippines on Friday and flattened Tacloban, coastal capital of Leyte province where officials had feared 10,000 people died, many drowning in a tsunami-like wall of seawater.

But Del Rosario dismissed fears of a “governance breakdown” in disaster areas.

“Hindi naman masasabi nating breakdown of governance. Wala lang kakayahan ang LGUs na mag-deliver ng services dahil ang kanilang mga government workers at mga opisina nila pati communication lines ay nagbaksakan. At ‘yung mga governmet employees ay hindi makapagtrabaho kaya ang ginagawa natin ngayon nagpapadala tayo ng mga (We can't say there's a breakdown of governance. It's just that th LGUs have no capability to deliver services because their government workers and offices, including their communication lines, are down. And government employees cannot work so what we are doing is sending) national governemnt employees from the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Health, among others. Sila na ngayon ay nagpupunta sa mga lugar na nangangailangan ng tulong (They are the ones going to these places in need of help) from the national government,” he said.

Aquino revealed the lower estimated toll after the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington set sail for the Philippines carrying about 5,000 sailors and more than 80 aircraft to accelerate relief efforts. It was joined by four other US Navy ships and should arrive in two to three days, the Pentagon said.

"The weather is pretty bad out there, so we are limited by seas and wind," Captain Thomas Disy, commander of the USS Antietam, a missile cruiser that is part of the carrier group, said in Hong Kong. "But we are going to be going as fast as we possibly can."

Relief supplies poured into Tacloban along roads flanked with corpses and canyons of debris as the rain fell again. Rescue workers scrambled to reach other towns and villages still cut off, which could reveal the full extent of the casualties and devastation.

"There are hundreds of other towns and villages stretched over thousands of kilometers that were in the path of the typhoon and with which all communication has been cut," said Natasha Reyes, emergency coordinator in the Philippines at Médecins Sans Frontières.

"No one knows what the situation is like in these more rural and remote places, and it's going to be some time before we have a full picture."

She described the devastation as unprecedented for the Philippines, a disaster-prone archipelago of more than 7,000 islands that sees about 20 typhoons a year, likening the storm to "a massive earthquake followed by huge floods."

About 660,000 people have been displaced and many have no access to food, water or medicine, the United Nations said.

Britain is also sending a navy warship with equipment to make drinking water from seawater and a military transport aircraft. The HMS Daring left Singapore and expects to arrive in two or three days.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said the development lender was considering boosting its conditional cash transfer program for the Philippines in the wake of the storm.

Corpse-choked wasteland

Aquino has declared a state of national calamity and deployed hundreds of soldiers in Tacloban, a once-vibrant port city of 220,000 that is now a wasteland without any sign of a government, as city and hospital workers focus on saving their families and securing food.

"Basically, the only branch of government that is working here is the military," Philippine Army Major Ruben Guinolbay told Reuters in Tacloban. "That is not good. We are not supposed to take over government."

Tacloban's government was wiped out by the storm, said Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas. Officials were dead, missing or too overcome with grief to work. Of the city's 293 police officers, only 20 had shown up for duty, he said.

"Today, we have stabilized the situation. There are no longer reports of looting. The food supply is coming in. Up to 50,000 food packs are coming in every day, with each pack able to feed up to a family of five for three days," he said.

Corazon Soliman, Secretary of the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development, said aid had reached a third of Tacloban's 45,000 families. Most of its stores remain closed - either destroyed or shut after widespread looting.

"Those that opened saw their goods wiped out of their shelves right away," Soliman said.

Chaos at airport

Two Philippine Air Force C-130 cargo planes landed at Tacloban airport early on Tuesday, but unloaded more soldiers than relief supplies. Among dozens of troops was a unit of Special Forces, underscoring concerns about civil disorder.

The Special Forces immediately deployed at the airport to hold back angry and desperate families waiting in heavy rain in the hope of boarding the planes returning to Manila.

"Get back! Get back in the building!" shouted air force officials through megaphones, gesturing the crowds back inside the wrecked terminal. Many had walked for hours from their destroyed homes, carrying meager possessions.

The sick, infants and the elderly were taken on board first. Pale-faced babies were passed over the crowd and carried on with several injured people. Many people wept and begged officials to let them on.

Residents told terrifying accounts of being swept away by a surge of water in city hopelessly unprepared for power of Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Yolanda.

Some stayed behind to protect their property, including Marivel Saraza, 39, who moved her six children farther inland before Haiyan struck, but stayed behind to look after her home only a stone's throw from the sea.

She ended up battling through chest-high water to reach higher ground, while the storm surge destroyed her two-storey concrete home.

"My house just dissolved in the water," she said.

Saraza now struggles to feed her children. The government gave her 2 kg (4.4 lb) of rice and a single can of sardines - barely enough for a family meal - so her husband foraged for fruit farther inland. But trees have been flattened by winds of 314 kph (195 mph) and rice fields inundated with salt water.

Relief efforts picking up

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said the economic damage in the coconut- and rice-growing region would likely shave 1 percentage point off of economic growth in 2014.

"Fixation over numbers at this stage is not going to be useful," Purisima, the top finance ministry official, told reporters. "I was overwhelmed by the pictures, not the numbers."

The overall financial cost of the destruction was harder to assess. Initial estimates varied widely, with a report from German-based CEDIM Forensic Disaster Analysis putting the total at $8 billion to $19 billion.

International relief efforts have begun to gather pace, with dozens of countries and organizations pledging tens of millions of dollars in aid. UN aid chief Valerie Amos, who has traveled to the Philippines, released $25 million for aid relief on Monday from the UN Central Emergency Response Fund.

Rescuers have yet to reach remote parts of the coast, such as Guiuan, a town of 40,000 people in Eastern Samar province that was largely destroyed after Haiyan made its first landfall there.

"We don't need aerial surveys. It won't help the people of Guiuan," one resident posted on the Armed Forces Facebook page. "You've already done an aerial survey and you've seen the extent of the damage, seen the devastation that Yolanda brought... The people are desperate, hungry and feeling dejected. WE ARE CRYING FOR HELP!!!"

The typhoon also leveled Basey, a seaside town in Samar province about 10 km (6 miles) across a bay from Tacloban. About 2,000 people were missing in Basey, its governor said. (Additional reporting by Rosemarie Francisco and Karen Lema in Manila; Phil Stewart and Susan Heavey in Washington; Michelle Nichols at the United Nations, Belinda Goldsmith in London and Greg Torode in Hong Kong)

source: interaksyon.com

No outside help has come to Samar - PDRRMC

MANILA - "Wala pa kaming outside aid na natatanggap."

That was the worried statement given by Samar Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) information officer Christine Caidic to InterAksyon.com.

So far, she said, only the provincial government of Samar has come to help the devastated towns of Basey and Marabut, which were also leveled by Super typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan), suffering the same house-high waves that hit Tacloban City in Leyte.

"Depleted na rin po ang aming resources," Caidic said.

The two Samar towns are just across the narrow San Juanico Strait from Tacloban City. Next to Marabut is Eastern Samar. One has to pass through the towns of Balingaga, Giporlos, Quinapondan, and Salcedo before reaching Guiuan, where Yolanda made its first landfall on Friday.

The provincial government has been conducting clearing operations along the highways from its capital, Catbalogan, to Marabut and eventually to reach Guian.

No word yet has reached PDRRMC as to the actual number of casualties in Guiuan and nearby towns or to the progress the Department of Public Works and Highways have made in reaching the town, which is at the southern tip of the main Samar island.

No electricity, no banks

Caidic said the entire Region 8 still has no electricity and their province is already running low on fuel to be able to reach the devastated southern coastal towns.

She is also appealing for canned goods and other basic needs of survivors.

Other towns south of Catbalogan leading to Tacloban are not as heavily damaged but there are unconfirmed reports of deaths in the town of Sta. Rita, where the San Juanico Bridge starts.

"We have sent 10 teams to do needs assessment in other towns such as Pinabacdao, Yabong, and Paranas. But we will wait out this other typhoon [Zoraida] before we can send out teams in islands like Daram and Sumaraga, which are still unreachable until this time," Caidic said.

According to Louie Guillem of the Fire Volunteer Brigade of Catbalogan, residents of Sta. Rita, Villareal, San Sebastian, Calbiga, Paranas, and Motiong have been going to Catbalogan on foot since Monday to stock up on supplies since Tacloban trade has virtually shut down in the city.

"The problem is banks here are closed and people come here only to find out that they cannot withdraw money to buy basic necessities. Schools and offices are open here, why can't the banks open too?" he told InterAksyon.com.

Guillem's volunteer group was among those who went to Tacloban to give aid, especially water, but was later diverted to equally devastated towns of Basey and Marabut.

He said he was able to contact some friends in Ormoc, where mobile phone signal is spotty, and said Ormoc desperately needs help. Ormoc Villa Hotel is now serving as an evacuation center, where the owner is now staying.

"His mansion was also destroyed," Guillem said.

source: interaksyon.com

US Pinoys rally to aid kababayan post-'Yolanda'

NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES -- Filipinos across the United States rallied to support aid efforts for their homeland on Monday as rescue workers an ocean away struggled to reach remote areas of the country that was ravaged by a deadly typhoon.

Many Filipino-Americans expressed appreciation for early efforts by the US government to respond to Typhoon Haiyan, which killed at least 10,000 people and left 600,000 homeless.

The US government provided immediate support that included 55 tons of food, $100,000 for water and sanitation support and the deployment of 90 Marines and sailors, but some Filipino-Americans expressed concerns that foreign aid could be diverted by corrupt local officials.

In the New York City borough of Queens, where many businesses along a 15-block thoroughfare dubbed "Little Manila" were planning charitable efforts for typhoon victims, the manager of Payag, a Filipino restaurant, said its weekly fundraisers for victims of last month's deadly earthquake in Central Visayas were being expanded to assist typhoon survivors.

"We started these events on November 1 not realizing soon after another calamity would occur," restaurant manager Peter Obac said. "So now it's for earthquake and typhoon victims."

Anne Beryl Corotan, a New York-based campaign coordinator for the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns, said her organization was working to send advance teams to the hard-hit areas of Samar and Leyte.

Reflecting sentiments common in the Filipino-American community, Corotan applauded US government relief efforts but said she hoped American officials would closely monitor disbursement of the aid.

"I would like to ensure that my taxes are going to appropriate provision of social services and not for militarization, corruption and only to those who are powerful, landlords and big business owners," she said.

President Benigno Aquino III came to office on a good governance and anti-corruption platform, but corruption remains endemic in the Southeast Asia nation.

Food and medicine

Efforts among Filipino-Americans to assist with typhoon relief extended across the country.

In San Francisco, the West Bay Pilipino Multi-Service Center, a nonprofit that serves underprivileged Filipino youth, stayed open overnight on Sunday to accept donations of food and medicine for victims of the typhoon.

The center collected about 700 pounds of canned food and medical supplies, said executive director Rudy Asercion, a third generation Filipino-American.

Asercion said the supplies would be shipped this week to Cebu, where Catholic church-affiliated volunteers would distribute them to typhoon victims in hard-hit places like the city of Tacloban.

Maria Hellen Barber De La Vega, consul general for the Philippines in Los Angeles, said that church and volunteer-based relief efforts in southern California were well under way, including $10,000 raised over the weekend in part by a five-kilometer fundraising walk on Sunday.

But she said the needs in the affected areas of central Philippines were nearly overwhelming.

"Right now we need medicines for cold and fever, food and water, but we really need treatment for bones. Many were caught in trees and hurt by flying debris," she said. "The problem is access."

Efforts to help extended beyond the Filipino expatriate community.

At the US Conference of Catholic Bishops assembly in Baltimore on Monday, Bishop Gerald Kicanas, chairman of the board of directors of US-based Catholic Relief Services, urged his colleagues to take up a "second collection" from churches for relief efforts in the Philippines and Vietnam.

"We hope you can send those collections as soon as possible because the crisis is so imminent."

Also speaking at the assembly, CRS President Carolyn Woo said her group had pledged $20 million in typhoon aid that it has not yet raised.

"It's important for people to be buying supplies," she said, adding that her group hoped to help 100,000 affected families.

Philippines Airlines also lent a hand, saying in a statement that it was offering space on its planes to ship certain aid supplies to the country free of charge.

source: interaksyon.com

Philippines Inc mobilizes aid for 'Yolanda' victims

MANILA – As the devastation wrought by Typhoon 'Yolanda' comes to light, Philippines Inc. has set into motion its philanthropic arm, leveraging on its ability not only to provide immediate aid, but also to mobilize more support beyond the boardroom.

In separate statements, corporates such as SM, Citi, Jollibee, Del Monte Pacific and Harbor Star Shipping were among those that have launched relief efforts for the victims of the disaster that left an estimated 10,000 people dead.

The SM group is setting up a P100-million calamity fund for areas affected by the typhoon as well as the recent 7.2-magnitude earthquake, particularly Tacloban, Ormoc, Samar, Bohol, Cebu, Iloilo, Capiz, and Bicol.

The fund will focus on rebuilding homes, community centers, schools, and churches as well as providing immediate relief through food and supplies.

"SM Foundation is taking the lead in the relief effort with the nationwide reach of SM Cares of the mall group, SM Savemore, and BDO Foundation. Each group has a different expertise in the community support program, and will be working with community groups to expand the efforts and widen the reach of the relief operation," the group said.

“Operation Tulong Express” will be open for donations in SM malls, and an account in both BDO and China Bank will be open to accept cash donations.

Likewise, Citi Foundation has pledged a $250,000 disaster relief grant to the American Red Cross Pacific Typhoon Fund to support relief and recovery efforts in the communities affected by the typhoon.

Citi Philippines has established a special account to raise funds to go to the Philippine Red Cross, a member of the League of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, to support the relief efforts and long-term rebuilding of the communities.

Donations may be sent to the following account:

Account Name: TYPHOON HAIYAN RELIEF FUND, US Dollar Account No: 1600125377, Peso Account No: 1400172923, Swift Code:  CITIPHMX, Routing Number:  021-0000-89 (CITINY), Address: Citibank, N.A. 8741 Paseo De Roxas Ave. Makati City, Philippines
Jollibee Foods Corp, through Jollibee Group Foundation, is also accepting donations for the victims through coin banks found in over 2,000 stores across the group’s portfolio of brands that include Jollibee, Chowking, Greenwich, Red Ribbon, Mang Inasal and Burger King.

Jollibee is also accepting donations through these bank accounts:

PESO ACCOUNT: Metrobank – Cubao Araneta Branch, Account Name: Jollibee Group Foundation, Account Number: 473-7-47301401-3
DOLLAR ACCOUNT: BDO – Megamall Branch Account Name: Jollibee Foundation, Inc, Account Number: 100661267008, Swift Code: BNORPHMM
Tug boat operator Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc has also allowed the Philippine Coast Guard to use the company's 300-foot Barge Lynx in transporting relief goods and supplies as well as equipment to Tacloban and other affected areas for free.

Barge Lynx, one of the largest barges in the Philippines, can transport 8,000 metric tons of goods, or the equivalent weight of 150,000 sacks of rice.

Del Monte Pacific Co Ltd said it would reach out to the local government agencies in Leyte in "providing meaningful assistance” to the victims.

West Zone concessionaire Maynilad Water Services Inc is donating P1 million to the typhoon victims through the PLDT-Smart Foundation, as part of the Tulong Kapatid efforts of the MVP group of companies.

The group’s Alagang Kapatid Foundation last Sunday raised P21 million in less than two hours during a telethon.

The company will also send 12,000 units of one-liter bottles, 15,000 one-gallon jugs and 10,000 pieces of bottled water to various public and private organizations. It already deployed 3,000 one-liter bottles and 1,100 one-gallon jugs of water to Alagang Kapatid Foundation, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Philippine Navy.

In coordination with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Maynilad is also sending water engineers to Tacloban to provide technical assistance in getting the city’s water systems up and running. Water supply in these areas was disrupted because of widespread infrastructure damage.

“Typhoon Yolanda has inflicted unimaginable damage and losses to our countrymen in Visayas. We are committed to helping them recover and pick-up the pieces, in whatever way we can,” said Maynilad president Ricky P. Vargas.

“For those who also want to donate goods, they can drop off their in-kind donations in our Maynilad offices in Cavite, Muntinlupa, Parañaque and Quezon City,” Vargas added.

Aboitiz Foundation has raised P30 million, including P5 million pledged by mega star Sharon Cuneta and P25 million by Union Bank of the Philippines.

Cuneta said she is giving a total of P10 million, with the other P5 million coursed through the Alagang Kapatid Foundation. “This is how much I believe in you both. God bless Visayas,” she said.

The corporate social responsibility (CSR) arm of the Aboitiz group earlier set up a command center in the Visayas after shipping relief packs and hygiene kits for 6,500 families in Northern Cebu.

The foundation said donations can be coursed through its UShare portal http://ushare.unionbankph.com/aboitiz/, and through the following bank accounts: Union Bank of the Philippines Account No. 10026-1070944 and City Savings Bank Account No. 200-20031301

Lastly, the San Miguel group has mobilized its business units for the relief efforts, with affiliate Philippine Airlines (PAL) committing to airlift relief goods for free.

Open to government agencies and duly-registered foundations and non-government organizations, the PAL Cargo Humanitarian Grant will transport the following necessities: medicines, medical supplies, powdered milk for infants, hygiene products; toiletries such as new underwear, and ready-to-eat products such as dried fish and dried fruits, which cannot be readily sourced in the affected areas.

The San Miguel Foundation also coordinated with the DSWD to donate thousands of boxes of relief goods, consisting of drinking water and canned meat products.

San Miguel Brewery Inc. is repacking additional relief goods, using its Mandaue Brewery in Cebu as a command center for relief operations and as drop-off point for donations.

Petron Corp meanwhile is tapping its 500 service stations nationwide as drop-off points for donations. The company also said it will establish temporary service stations to ensure reliable fuel supply at the right prices in order to help recovery, relief, and rehabilitation efforts.

source: interaksyon.com

UN to mount urgent appeal for millions of dollars in aid for Philippines

The United Nations on Tuesday will launch an urgent aid appeal expected to seek hundreds of millions of dollars to help the Philippines recover from the ravages of Typhoon “Yolanda” (international codename: Haiyan).

UN humanitarian chief Valerie Amos was headed for the Philippines to lead a "flash appeal" for cash, officials said, saying the scale of devastation was so far-reaching that a major emergency effort is needed.

The announcement came as the Pentagon said it had ordered an aircraft carrier, other ships and scores of aircraft that had been on a stop in Hong Kong to head to the stricken archipelago.

Ahead of the emergency appeal, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon welcomed the aid already pledged but said contributions "must expand urgently in the days ahead," given the sheer damage wrought by Haiyan.

Britain is sending a ship and a transporter plane to assist with the relief effort following the typhoon, which may have killed more than 10,000 people in what is feared to be the worst natural disaster ever to hit the Philippines.

"The scale of devastation is massive and therefore it will require the mobilization of a massive response," John Ging, the UN's humanitarian operations director said, stressing the death toll was expected to rise.

"Many places are strewn with dead bodies," Ging told a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York. "We are certainly expecting the worst. As we get more and more access we find the tragedy of more and more people killed in this typhoon."

Vietnam, itself faced with mass evacuations as a weakened Haiyan swung through its territory Monday, offered aid worth $100,000 and vowed to stand by the Filipino people.

The relief operation was focused on the city of Tacloban on Leyte several days after one of the biggest storms in recorded history demolished entire communities across the central Philippines.

Delivering on a promise of assistance from President Barack Obama, about 180 US Marines were deployed to the Philippines on Monday to support local forces, carry out search and rescue work and help humanitarian efforts on the ground.

Britain's HMS Daring, a destroyer, will sail to the Philippines "at full speed" from its current deployment in Singapore, and will be joined by a Royal Air Force C-17 transport plane, Prime Minister David Cameron said.

Britain will also boost its aid from £6 million ($9.6 million) to £10 million.

The Australian government pledged Aus$10 million ($9.38 million), with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop describing the unfolding tragedy as "absolutely devastating" and on a "massive scale."

The aid will include tarpaulins, sleeping mats, mosquito nets, water containers and health and hygiene kits. A team of Australian medics will leave on Wednesday via a C-17 military transport plane from Darwin to join disaster experts already on the ground, the government said.

Local rescue teams were said to be overwhelmed in their efforts to help those whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed after Yolanda ravaged large swathes of the country on Friday.

Officials were struggling to cope with the scale of death and destruction, with reports of violent looters and scarcity of food, drinking water and shelter.

The UN children's fund UNICEF said a cargo plane carrying 60 tons of aid including shelters and medicine would arrive in the Philippines Tuesday, to be followed by deliveries of water purification and sanitation equipment.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR was also organizing an airlift carrying aid including hygiene kits containing basics such as soap, blankets and underwear.

"The level of destruction we're seeing reported is absolutely staggering," said Antonio Guterres, head of UNHCR.

Other aid mobilized for the Philippines:

The European Commission said it would give three million euros ($4 million) toward relief efforts.
Germany's embassy in Manila said an initial shipment of 23 tons of aid was being flown in and German rescue teams were already at work.
Malaysia also readied a relief crew and cash aid was offered by Taiwan and Singapore.
New Zealand increased its humanitarian relief on Monday, bringing its total to NZ$2.15 million (US$1.78 million), while Canada has promised up to US$5 million to aid organizations.
Medical teams from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), or Doctors Without Borders, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) now in the country.

On the other hand, the Canadian government called on its citizens to donate money towards aiding the Philippines, pledging to match these donations dollar-for-dollar.

MSF said a 15-man team that arrived in Cebu on November 9 is expected to be in Tacloban City on Wednesday with 50 more people -- medical personnel, logisticians and psychologists -- and 329 tons of medical and relief supplies arriving in the next few days.The first cargo plane left Dubai on Monday and a second will depart Belgium on Tuesday.

JICA, on the other hand, said 25 members of the Japan Disaster Relief Medical Team from Tokyo -- doctors, nurses, and other medical experts and personnel -- arrived in Manila on Monday and will be in Tacloban City on Wednesday.

“We join the collective efforts of the local and international community in reaching out to victims of typhoon Yolanda. We are working closely with the Department of Health to help address the health needs of the people affected by this tragedy,” JICA Philippines chief representative Takahiro Sasaki said in a statement.

“It is now Japan’s turn to return support to the Filipinos who helped the Japanese people affected during the Great East Japan Earthquake last March 11, 2011. We are confident that the Filipinos will rise above this challenge, and the recent typhoon will provide a perspective in strengthening disaster preparedness in the long-term,” he added.

Meanwhile, Canada’s Minister of International Development, Christian Paradis, said that, “for every eligible dollar donated by individual Canadians to registered Canadian charities in response to the crisis in the Philippines the government will donate an additional dollar -- effectively doubling their contribution.”

The announcement, made on November 9, is aside from Canada’s initial $30,000 allocation to the International Federation of the Red Cross to help launch relief operations.

Paradis also announced that Canada is giving “up to $5 million in support to humanitarian organizations.”

Canada is also deploying the Interdepartmental Strategic Support Team to assess needs on ground and identify potential response options, which could include the Disaster Assistance Response Team.

source: interaksyon.com