Foreign donations for Sendong victims reach over $12M

Thursday, December 29, 2011

FOREIGN donations for victims of Tropical Storm Sendong have reached more than $12 million, including those received from Philippine embassies, Filipinos abroad, and private individuals.

The amount excludes donations and pledges without monetary value, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

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Total donations have reached $4,780,656.15 in cash, $2,122,255.14 in kind, and $5,710,563 worth of pledges.

Top donors include the United States, $100,000 in cash and $5.4 million in pledges; Australia, $1,015,246.92 in cash and $304,600.82 in kind; China, $1.01 million in cash; Czech Republic, $894,000 in cash; Republic of Korea, $500,000 in kind and $110,000 in pledges; Indonesia, $310,000 in cash and $200,000 in kind; and New Zealand, $500,000 in cash.

Japan also donated $320,163.09 worth of items in kind; Spain, $261,470.66 in cash; Ireland, $130,807.66 in kind; Malaysia, $100,000 in cash; Singapore, $38,714.37 in cash and $21,533.57 in kind; Chile, $25,000 in cash; Thailand, $100,000 in cash; Denmark, $52,783.82 in cash; Belgium, $130,562.58 worth of pledges; Italy, $645,150 in kind; Switzerland, $320,714.98 in cash; and Oman, $2,909.65 in cash.

Filipinos living in the northeastern part of the United States have also sent $11,170 in cash coursed through the Philippine Consulate General in New York while other members of the Filipino in the US collected $8,287.80 in cash.

Some $3,956 in cash has been donated by Filipinos in Guam while the Laguna Association of Guam gave $500 in cash.

Other donations from the Filipino communities include $1,000 in cash from Malaysia, $3,921.45 in cash from France, $1,094.25 in cash from Myanmar, $2,275.30 in cash from Xiamen and $195.95 in cash from the Philippine Consulate General in Barcelona.

Private individuals and businesses have also donated to the cause.

Russian businessmen gave $20,000 in pledges, and the Dalai Lama Trust also provided $50,000 in pledges.

The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Guam provided $14,420 in cash while the Philippine Consulate General in Guam collected money from various individuals that totaled $2,895.

International organizations also “stepped in to help.”

On December 22, the United Nations launched a consolidated flash appeal for humanitarian assistance with the humanitarian community and the Philippine government for Sendong victims amounting to $28,576,819.

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has an initial appeal of $50,000. Its Philippine office also organized a team for determining the needs of victims in Mindanao.

At present, a four-member delegation from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) is visiting Sendong-stricken areas to conduct a similar needs assessment.

Fatalities from Sendong rose to 1,257 while the estimated damage to properties went up to P1.382 billion, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said.

In a related report, the Japanese government said it will provide emergency aid worth $2 million in response to the flash appeal lodged by the United Nations.

The emergency aid will "provide urgently needed food and water and to support for repairing the damaged houses," a statement from the Japanese embassy in Manila said.

The assistance will be made possible through the help of various organizations such as the United Nations World Food Program (WFP), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef).

Similarly, in a separate report, a German humanitarian aid agency has donated P14.2 million (82,895 Euros) for relief efforts of victims of typhoon Sendong.

The Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (DKH) will use the funds to cover costs for food items such as rice, mung beans, dried fish, sardines, cooking oil, and sugar for 5,665 families in the provinces of Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte, and Negros Oriental.

DKH is a member of the ACT (Action by Churches Together) Alliance, a global alliance of churches and aid agencies. The humanitarian organization has also sourced out funds from the German Federal Foreign Office to help respond to the emergency situation.

For its part, the German government donated 166, 676 Euros to bankroll non-food items like laundry soap, water containers, sleeping mattresses, blankets, and sanitary napkins for 12,270 families in Cagayan de Oro City and Iligan City, the areas most affected by the storm.

Relief Delivery Operations will be undertaken by the Philippine NGO Citizens' Disaster Response Center, and its Regional Centers Panday Bulig (PB) and Center for People's Resources and Services (CPRS), starting December 29, 2011.

The same NGO and its network will also handle a P7.7 million (166,050 francs) donation from a Catholic social service agency in Switzerland, which has collected it from various public and private organizations.

The money, which will be used for relief efforts in Misamis Oriental, Lanao del Norte, and Negros Oriental, the Citizens' Disaster Response Center (CDRC) said in a statement.

Funds that were sent by Caritas Switzerland were also sourced from Swiss Solidarity, City of Geneva, Caritas Luxembourg, Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Caritas Austria.

The agency also sent relief packs containing 10 kilograms (kg) of rice, one kg of mung beans, one kg of dried fish, six cans of sardines, 500 ml of cooking oil, one kg of sugar, one bar laundry soap, water container, mattress, and blanket.

These will be distributed to 4,605 families in 17 communities in the most affected and least-served areas through the CDRC and its regional centers Panday Bulig and Center for People's Resources and Services. (CVB/Sunnex)