Aid efforts stepped up for victims

The Christmas spirit of generosity remained strong among Filipinos who chipped in to donate goods and used clothing for families affected by typhoon Pablo last week.

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma said they will dispatch the donations they received from their parishioners through their social action centers and will continue to accept more for the flood victims.

“As long as people share, then we will dispatch the donations (as soon as possible). Any help wherever they come from, as long as they reach the recipient, it is always appreciated,” Palma added.

In Manila, Customs Commissioner Ruffy Biazon said the agency will do an inventory of confiscated goods which have undergone appropriate processes and procedures and are available for donation.

He clarified that only goods which have gone through the prescribed forfeiture proceedings with finality can be donated via the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Biazon explained that the goods to be donated should have been subjected to forfeiture proceedings and and gone through at least two failed auctions.

In Bulacan, government employees—some of them still reeling from the effects of floods that swamped the province in August — cancelled  their Christmas party and donated their money instead to the victims of Typhoon Pablo in Mindanao.

Gov. Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado announced the employees’ decision last Friday night after he lighted a 55-foot Christmas tree made of bamboo at the Capitol here.  He said he asked Bulacan’s 21 towns and three cities to help generate funds and donations.

Three rescue teams were deployed by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority to Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley to help in the search and retrieval operations there.

US forces operating in the country under the Joint US Military Advisory Group (Jusmag) along with six, or about half of the Philippine Air Force’s helicopter inventory, were also tapped to speed up the search for hundreds of people still missing in Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental.

The national disaster response office said it has recorded 383 missing persons, 439 dead and 445 injured in the two affected provinces. Inquirer with a report from Correspondent Joy Cherry Quito