IT was his 34th birthday but Jessie Perez, the district manager of Rep. Luis Gabriel Quisumbing, refused to accept gifts for himself.
Instead, Perez told his colleagues and friends that what he would like to get are relief goods to help the people in his hometown in Abuyog, Leyte which was hit by supertyphoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan).
Perez and his friends went to Leyte last Nov. 30 to distribute relief goods to survivors and conduct stress debriefing activities for children. “It’s our way of helping the typhoon victims,” Perez said.
Perez communicated with friends through Facebook. He was able to gather more than 500 packs of relief goods from those who responded to his call. Each pack contained two kilos of rice, three cans of sardines and three packs of noodles.
“Instead of giving me gifts for my birthday, mag hatag nalang sila para sa akong mga kababayan sa (instead of giving me gifts, they gave for my townmates) Abuyog, Leyte, particularly in barangay. Sta. Fe,” he told reporters.
Perez had immediately gone back to Leyte right after the typhoon to check on his sister. Two days later, he went back to Cebu and posted pictures of the devastation.
He started receiving donations and shelled out personal money as well.
About 200 children underwent stress debriefing and were given bags filled with bottled water, cupcakes, candies and chocolates.
With him during the relief operation were Wendell Canque, who works at the Department of Foreign Affairs, and four other friends.