Various Filipino groups in the Kingdom have begun soliciting cash donations and relief goods to help hundreds of thousands of compatriots affected by flash floods spawned by torrential rains that hit the southern region of the Philippines on Tuesday.
“Our group, the Filipino Golf Association in Riyadh, has spearheaded a campaign to solicit donations in cash or kind,” Resty Sibug, FPG vice president, told Arab News.
Cash donations will be sent to the Philippines for distribution to those affected by the floods. Donors also included the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers (PSME), Aguman Kapampangan International, Order of the Knights of Rizal and the OFW Congress in Riyadh headed by Alex Bello.
In Alkhobar, Mary Jane Tupas, a Filipino community leader, and Bagong Bayani Awardee, told Arab News that the Philippine Nurses Association in the Eastern Region, Saudi Arabia (PNA-ERSA) and the OFW Congress in the Eastern Region had also launched campaigns to solicit donations in cash or kind.
“It has been a practice among members of the two groups to pool their resources together to help whenever our compatriots back home suffer from a catastrophe,” said Tupas, a nursing director at Dossary General Hospital in Alkhobar and president of both the PNA-ERSA and OFW Congress.
In Buraidah, the Samahan ng mga Manggagawang Pilipino sa Gassim (SAMPIGA) headed by Dionisio Tabuco Jr. has scheduled a meeting to discuss the launching of a campaign to help.
“In the past, we at SAMPIGA have always been at the forefront of soliciting cash donations and relief goods whenever our compatriots back home were in need,” Tabuco said. He thanked Trans-Fast for having sent their remittances free of charge.
In Hail, Edmund Nieto, a SAMPIGA member, is leading a campaign in parallel with the other regions to solicit donations for the flood victims.
As of yesterday, 60 people had died after being drowned or buried by landslides. Health Secretary Enrique Ona announced that most of the deaths were due to drowning and electrocution.
The total number of persons affected in the regions of Ilocos, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, in addition to the national capital region, reached 1,230,813 people, with a total of 90 municipalities within Ilocos, Central Luzon , Calabarzon and NCR indundated.
