Volunteers ask for coins for Sendong victims

TUGGING a large water bottle, 22-year-old volunteer Jazel Brigoli diligently asked for coins from random passersby along Fuente Osmeña Circle for victims of Tropical Storm Sendong in the Visayas and Mindanao.

“I would just waste my time on Facebook if I stay in our house. I decided to come here instead,” Brigoli told Cebu Daily News.

Brigoli is a volunteer of the Federation of Visayas Radio Clubs (FVRC) who put up a drop-off center in Fuente Osmeña.

Brigoli said they just started the idea of collecting coins last Wednesday.

“With this, anyone will have the chance to share what they have,” she said.

Couples Edwin and Ligaya Narsu also brought three jeeploads of used clothing, slippers and blankets on the drop-off center of the ABS-CBN Halad Kapamilya foundation.

“These stuffs were stored in our house for months. Many people in Cagayan and Iligan will be happy about it,” Edwin Narsu said.

He said he bought the stuff for P30,000 from Marco Polo Hotel and was about to sell them again.

Instead, he decided to donate them as an early Christmas gift.

The camaraderie among volunteers also inspired 20-year-old student Maris Villamor to volunteer in the ABS-CBN foundation.

“I want to help those affected by the flood. I’ve been here since Monday because I had also become close to the other volunteers,” she said.

Neil Sanchez, public information officer of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (RDRRMC), said he met with Undersecretary Benito Ramos of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) for an update on the Sendong victims in Negros Oriental.

“So far, there’s a smooth flow on the delivery of relief operations from Cebu to Negros,” he said.

The Mactan-Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) Board gave P1 million for Sendong victims in Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and Dumaguete.

In a statement, the MCIAA board said the amount from their corporate social responsibility budget will be given to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

The airport also initiated a fund-raising campaign among their employees, aviation handling companies, concessionaires and costumer-passengers donations which they will forward to the DSWD.

In a press statement, the Japanese government said it will send P14 million in assistance to the storm’s victims.

The Japanese embassy in Pasay City said the assistance will include cash, relief goods, water tanks and generators among others. With Correspondent Edison delos Angeles