MANILA, Philippines?As a way of thanking heaven for saving it from last week?s massive flood that submerged its neighbors and many parts of Metro Manila, a laundry company is offering to help flood victims in the best and most fitting way it knows how?by giving them free washing.

Kalinisan Steam Laundry Inc. in Quezon City has also opened its gates to provide food and shelter to more than 100 families displaced by the flooding unleashed by Tropical Storm ?Ondoy? (international codename: Ketsana), its executives said Sunday.

Moreover, it has organized worship sessions to take care of the spiritual needs of the victims now staying at its warehouse.

Their dirty laundry ?will be washed, dried, pressed and folded,? Edwin Matibag, marketing and delivery officer of Kalinisan told the Philippine Daily Inquirer on Sunday.

?The free laundry assistance is open to all victims of Ondoy in Marikina, Quezon City, Cainta, Pasig, Taguig, Antipolo City and other areas in the National Capital Region, Rizal and Southern Tagalog,? company lawyer Raul Lambino said in an e-mail.

?A miracle?

Matibag said nearby factories were swamped in the floods but the Kalinisan shop was unscathed.

?All the big factories in the surrounding area were submerged in water, while our warehouse was spared. We were dry,? he said.

?Sparing the whole warehouse from flood was a miracle, it gave us hope, which the owners and the employees want to share with the victims,? he added.

The company website said Kalinisan Steam Laundry was set up in 1985 with an initial staff of 70 and a wash load capacity of 10 tons a day.

Now, it can process 40 tons a day and dispatch 18 vans for delivery, according to the website.

?The owners have given the order to provide free laundry to the victims of Ondoy,? Matibag said. He said the instructions came from owners Peachy and Wyden King.

Procedures to follow

Victims may bring their dirty laundry to the Kalinisan warehouse at 10 Manggahan St., Barangay Bagumbayan, Quezon City. Dirty items, such as clothes, beddings and curtains, will be accepted.

But procedures must be followed and coordinated with the barangay chair, Dr. Elmer Maturan.

Among others, the barangay officials will determine if the victim is legitimate or not, Matibag said. There will be no discrimination between ?rich and poor,? he said.

?The victims who want to avail [themselves] of the free laundry have to get a card from the barangay office and bring their dirty things at the gate,? Matibag said.

Children at play

Matibag said the 3,000-square-meter warehouse had been providing food and shelter to over 100 families since the flood came.

When the Inquirer visited the warehouse, children were cavorting on its clean and shiny floors. Other evacuees were lounging around chairs and tables that had been set up for them.

They have also been provided with mattresses and white beddings.

Kalinisan serves lunch and dinner, while the barangay is in charge of breakfast, company executives said.

According to Matibag, the evacuees came mostly from nearby areas, where water rose to as high as a jeepney.

Hour of thanksgiving

The company is also providing for their spiritual needs.

?Every 8 in the morning, before breakfast, all the people inside the warehouse are implored to join in a thanksgiving prayer,? Matibag said.

Employees take turns cooking as their way of sharing with the evacuees, he said.

Administration officer Cora Opeña said certain rules had been set down.

?We have four toilets for them to use and cleanliness should be maintained at all times,? she said.

To instill discipline and maintain order, she said, an 11 p.m. curfew had been put into effect.

?We want the evacuation center to be comfortable and the best they could have,? Opeña said.

She said worship sessions for adults and educational sessions for children were set up by company employees to make the evacuees? stay meaningful.

?Bayanihan? spirit

Some have different ways of showing their gratitude.

Some 30 residents of Barangay 845 in Pandacan, Manila?beneficiaries last week of relief goods from Malacañang after their neighborhood was battered by Ondoy?Sunday went back to the Palace to assist in the relief drive intended for other flood victims.
In their own little way, Virginia Rotao and her neighbors were now assisting other volunteers in repacking thousands of donated goods at the Kalayaan Hall.

?When we heard that more volunteers were needed, we decided to come to help others,? the 58-year-old Rotao said.

Such was the ?bayanihan? spirit?that attitude of selflessness and brotherly love in the face of tragedy?that Malacañang said was in full display in the aftermath of the latest calamity.

?We didn?t lose hope,? Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said in Filipino in his weekly media forum. ?The best of times brought out the best in Filipinos.?

Arroyo children

The Palace also noted the presence at the relief operation center of a fresh group of volunteers from the so-called Smokey Mountain in Tondo, Manila, the Young Pinoy organization.

Presidential chief of staff Hermogenes Esperon, who oversees the relief center, earlier appealed for more volunteers to take the place of others working since last week.

More than 1,700 students, families, nuns, cadets, government employees, including Indian medical students from Las Piñas City have turned up as of Thursday.

Frequently seen at the relief center were the President?s daughter, Lourdes ?Luli? Arroyo-Bernas, and her brother, Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado ?Dato? Arroyo.

Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel ?Mikey? Arroyo, the eldest of the Arroyo siblings, was seen briefly one evening last week, checking on the relief drive at the Kalayaan Hall. He was in a plain white shirt, shorts and slippers.

The Inquirer was told that Mikey had his own relief operation in Pampanga province.

In Pampanga, once more

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Sunday distributed 20 ?cash cards? to poor families in Gabaldon, Nueva Ecija, as part of the government?s conditional cash transfer program.

The fresh assistance brought to about 7,600 the total number of beneficiaries in the province. Besides the 2,034 recipients from Gabaldon, there were also others from Carrangalan (2,439), Licab (1,706), and Talugtug (1,451).

Remonde said Ms Arroyo would stay overnight in Pampanga to distribute relief goods there and in Bulacan.

She plans to return to Manila on Monday to receive donations from groups such as the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries.