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Monday, September 05, 2005
Government asks help for Pinoys hit by hurricane
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Sunday appealed for donations and other forms of help for victims of Hurricane Katrina in the US, especially for affected Filipino-Americans.
President Arroyo made the plea to Filipinos here and abroad during a televised dialogue with Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo and foreign services officials stationed in the US.
Arroyo, in a statement, also urged countries around the world to set aside a day of prayer for the victims of Katrina.
She said the 25-member humanitarian team composed of medical experts that the Philippines is sending to the US is a small contingent but "it all for our great friendship and ties with the American people."
The first batch of 10 doctors, nurses and sanitary engineers will leave for the US this week.
"This is not only about helping alleviate pain and anguish but about two nations sharing the sacrifices for freedom and human dignity over more than a century," Arroyo said.
The President said the US has always been among the first to help disaster victims in the Philippines "and we shall always be first in appreciation for a longstanding ally for human and political security. "
Philippine ambassador to the US Alberto del Rosario said his office is monitoring the safety of Filipino-Americans in Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana and that no casualties have been reported yet.
Romulo said Consul General Marciano Paynor Jr. has set up a call center in Houston and has appealed for donations in cash, kind, medicine and even blood. He said businesswoman Loida Nicolas-Lewis has given US$10,000 while officials and employees of the Philippine embassy in the US have chipped in another US$10,000.
He said donations may be sent in checks with the American Red Cross as payee and these will be delivered the Philippine embassy or consulate.
The foreign affairs secretary said the National Federation of Filipino-American doctors will send doctors and nurses to Texas, who will be given authority by the State of Texas to practice there temporarily.
Cielo Martinez, honorary consul general in New Orleans whose house was under 10 feet of water, reported that 80 percent of houses in New Orleans are under water owing to the bursting of two spillways that cause massive flooding.
Martinez reported to President Arroyo that most of the Filipinos in her area have evacuated to Houston and Louisiana but many are still trapped in their houses because the water has not yet subsided.
She said the pumping stations have not yet been activated because there is no electricity, and that once the pumps start working again, it will recede the water by one foot a day. (JMR)
(September 5, 2005 issue)
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