Arroyo asks minority congressmen to donate salaries to Sendong victims

MANILA, Philippines—Former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has asked the minority in the House of Representatives to donate their salaries for a month to the relief effort in storm-ravaged  provinces in Northern Mindanao.

In a message sent through incoming Minority Leader Danilo Suarez, Arroyo, who represents Pampanga in the House, said the donation of the minority congressmen will kick off a fund-raising campaign to help the victims of Storm Sendong in the ravaged areas such as Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.

Arroyo spent part of her youth in Iligan City.

“The minority congressmen and I are offering our salaries to raise funds to address the urgent needs of affected countrymen in areas devastated especially in Cagayan de Oro and nearby areas,” Arroyo said in Filipino.

“The funds will be coursed by minority congressmen through priests, bishops, Caritas, Red Cross and other organizations,” she added.

Suarez said the 29 members of the minority have complied with Arroyo’s directive to share their salary with the flood victims. He added the minority lawmakers  also forked out P180,000 in a recent gathering.

Recently, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. required each of the 285 congressmen to donate P20,000 of their salaries to the storm victims.

Belmonte likewise urged congressmen to give P1 million each from their respective Priority Development Assistance Funds for the rehabilitation of the infrastructure in the storm-hit areas.