A church of the Iglesia ni Cristo stands amid devastated houses in the wake of Odette’s fury on Thursday. | PHOTO: Facebook page of Governor Arlene “Kaka” Bag-ao
While still recovering from the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the local business community is mobilizing much-needed resources to promptly aid areas in the Visayas and Mindanao that have been ravaged by Typhoon “Odette” (international name: Rai).
Fast-food giant Jollibee Group, through its social development arm, Jollibee Group Foundation (JGF), is providing food to families through JGF’s FoodAID Program. The group is helping 33,000 individuals in Negros Occidental, Southern Leyte and Surigao del Norte.
The Jollibee Group started distributing meals on Sunday, together with its partners and the local governments in the affected communities. The group also mobilized its franchisees to lead efforts in Southern Leyte and Northern Mindanao. Further support is coursed through the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF).
PDRF, with RCBC, Fintech Alliance.PH, PayMaya and other partners, have called for cash and in-kind donations for the communities affected by Odette, the 15th tropical cyclone in 2021.
Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. president Henry Lim Bon Liong announced that China was donating 3.2 million kilos of rice—now already in the ports of Manila and Cebu worth P128 million—on top of P12 million relief food supplies donated by the Filipino Chinese Community Calamity Fund and P8 million worth of relief food supplies donated by Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian to be distributed to the stricken communities.
Apart from mobilizing donations, Chooks-to-Go operator Bounty Agro Ventures Inc. (Bavi) has pledged to provide financial support to employees whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the typhoon.
“The Bavi Sagip fund, to which employees regularly contribute a part of their incentives, will be used to support our colleagues,” said Ronald Mascariñas, president of Bavi.