RAFI answers call to help Leyte

In response to the call of Palo Archbishop John Du to help the typhoon victims in Leyte, the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. prepared 20,000 relief packs last Sunday for shipment to Leyte today.

Each pack contains rice, sugar, canned goods, salt, water and milk for a family of five good for five days.

Du came over to Cebu last Nov. 14 and pleaded for help for his people who haven’t received relief goods yet.

“We, at RAFI, have already been planning to help Leyte and Samar, but we prioritized the northern Cebu towns that were also damaged by supertyphoon Yolanda. The call of Archbishop Du for Cebu to also send help to Leyte encouraged us to fast-track aid,” said Evelyn Nacario-Castro, head of the RAFI relief operations resource mobilization team.

The relief goods will be brought to Ormoc City, the pickup point for distribution to various parts of Leyte in need of relief.

Castro said that aside from relief goods, RAFI will also provide shelter kits that include a tarpaulin, ground sheet, tools and blankets.

Du and Fr. Raymond Calubid of St. Joseph the Worker parish in barangay Cantuahon, Palompon, Leyte, met with Castro and Fr. Carmelo Diola of the Dilaab Foundation last week to discuss how RAFI and its partners could help.

Castro offered to help the archbishop organize its own relief operations and interventions based on the process that RAFI is following.

Before sending help, RAFI deploys an assessment team to determine the aid needed. RAFI then distributes coupons to the beneficiaries to facilitate an orderly distribution of relief goods.

“Fr. Calubid was saying in our meeting that somebody has to take the lead. We will help them in adopting our system,” Castro added.

Last Nov. 13, RAFI also partnered with lawyer Cristina Garcia Frasco, wife of Lilo-an Mayor Duke Frasco, to bring 8,000 relief packs to Ormoc.