Countries, Organizations, Celebrities To Send Relief For Odette Victims

Japan and China will provide disaster relief assistance to the Philippines following the devastation brought by Typhoon Odette (with international name Rai, according to the Japanese and Chinese embassies in Manila on Tuesday, Dec. 21.

Through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Japanese Ambassador Kazuhiko Koshikawa said the Japanese government’s assistance hopes to boost the effort of Philippine authorities in providing relief supplies to affected families.

“Our assistance is on the way. In coordination with the (Philippine) government, we deliver disaster relief goods, such as generators, tents & sleeping pads, water containers, and plastic sheets. Hang in there! We are one with you,” Koshikawa said in a post on Twitter.

The envoy expressed heartfelt sympathies to all the Filipinos affected by the typhoon and praised the Philippines’ effort to respond to the calamity.

“My heart and prayers go out to everyone in large parts of Visayas and Mindanao hit by Typhoon #OdettePH. My deepest respect to the brave first responders of the ongoing disaster relief and recovery operations in the area. I hope for everyone’s safety,” he said.

The relief goods that will be distributed immediately to areas devastated by the typhoon will be shipped in coordination with the Philippine government, specifically the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

China

Meanwhile, China is sending at least 20,000 food packs worth P8 million for victims of Odette.

Chinese Ambassador Huang Xilian said each package, which contains five kilograms of rice, 10 canned foods and 10 noodle packs, are on their way to Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Cagayan de Oro City, Surigao City and other areas hit by the typhoon, the Chinese embassy said on Tuesday.

“Our hearts go out to all the Filipino families who were devastated by Typhoon Odette which has caused massive casualties, as well as property loss,” Huang said in a statement.

He added that China is also sending an additional 4.725 million kilograms of Chinese government-donated rice to typhoon-affected areas. The rice shipments are in different ports, with 3.225 million kilograms in Manila and 1.5 million kilograms in Cebu being urgently transported to typhoon-affected areas.

“We thank the Philippine government, in particular the (DSWD), for their great efforts in urgently distributing these rice to those Filipino families in need,” the Chinese embassy said.

EU

The European Union will provide €1.7 million in humanitarian aid to the typhoon victims. The funding will cover needs such as food, drinking water, shelter and other urgently needed household items.

“In an immediate response to typhoon Rai which caused widespread destruction and deplorable loss of lives in the Philippines, the EU stands by the Filipino people in these difficult times and has started to provide emergency relief actions to those affected in close cooperation with our humanitarian partners,” European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said.

Filipino-Chinese community

The Filipino-Chinese community will also extend assistance amounting P12 million to those affected by Typhoon Odette.

During the Pandesal Forum on Tuesday, Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. (FFCCCII) president Henry Lim Bon Liong said 11 major Filipino Chinese business, civic and cultural organizations of the Filipino-Chinese Community Calamity Fund (FCCCF) have raised P12 million to help the typhoon victims in the Visayas and Mindanao.

Apart from the FFCCCII, the 10 other organizations that are part of the efforts are Federation of Filipino-Chinese Associations of the Philippines, Philippine Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Overseas Chinese Alumni Association of the Philippines, Filipino-Chinese Amity Club, World News Daily, Filipino-Chinese Shin Lian Association, Overseas Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Philippines, Philippine Soong Ching Ling Foundation, Philippine Jin Jiang Shen Fu Zhen Association and the World Fujian Youth Federation of the Philippines.

The assistance is being given in the form of food relief packs.

Each pack costs P400 and contains rice, canned sardines and instant noodles.

Lim said 10,000 relief packs have been allocated each for Bohol, Cebu and Negros Occidental (Hinigaran, Kabankalan, La Carlota, Sipalay, Hinupaan, Himamaylan and other areas), while Southern Leyte and Western Samar will get 5,000 each.

Negros Oriental and Surigao province will get 2,500 relief packs each, Surigao City will get 300 relief packs and Cagayan de Oro will receive 200 relief packs.

“In support of the government’s programs for the recovery and rehabilitation of the affected provinces, we will continue to extend relief assistance to alleviate the plight of our countrymen. We shall appeal to our member-organizations to help in rebuilding these communities and the local rural economies,” Lim said.

World Food Programme

As of Tuesday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported 156 deaths due to Odette’s wrath. Meanwhile, in its own death toll, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said the number of people who died climbed to 375.

Odette, the 15th tropical cyclone to enter the Philippines and the strongest in 2021, battered parts of Visayas and Mindanao with nine landfalls on Dec. 16 and 17, and left the Philippine area of responsibility on Saturday, Dec. 18.

The World Food Programme (WFP), the food assistance branch of the United Nations (UN) said in collaboration with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT), it has deployed three newly built Mobile Operations Vehicles for Emergencies (MOVE) units from prepositioned bases in Butuan, Davao and Tacloban to the disaster zones in Surigao City and Maasin City, Leyte.

“In Surigao City, the two MOVE units have become the first means to bring connectivity to the government coordination and response since the communications infrastructure was damaged by the typhoon. WFP IT staff on the ground have also helped set up portable MOVE sets in Siargao Island and are now working on Dinagat Island,” the WFP said in a statement on Tuesday.

In addition to this, the WFP also donated 12 portable satellite communication devices to both the DICT and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) “to help the authorities coordinate their responses from remote areas,” along with two mobile storage units and a generator for the establishment of a logistics hub in Surigao City.

UNICEF

UN’s child agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund or UNICEF has dispatched 2,000 family hygiene and dignity kits, 2,767 packs of water purification tablets additional 2,018 bottles (in 100 milliliters) of household water disinfectants, two collapsible bulk water storages, 50

emergency latrine kits and 25 tents for district hospitals and Rural Health Units from UNICEF’s Mindanao Field Office in Cotabato City to Dinagat Islands, Siargao, Surigao City and Surigao del Norte. The kits, UNICEF added, contain items such as water buckets, soaps, toothpaste and sanitary napkins.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, along with the Australian government and other donors, said that it will donate 1,000 solar lamps, 1,000 mosquito nets, 1,000 plastic tarps, and 200 plastic sheets to the displaced families in Siargao and Dinagat Islands.

On Twitter, Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook said that the technology giant will be contributing to “relief, recovery, and longer-term rebuilding efforts” to the typhoon victims in the Philippines, as well as those affected by massive flooding in Malaysia.

Aboitiz Group

For its part, the Aboitiz Group said that its power firm, Aboitiz Power Corporation (AboitizPower), is working “round-the-clock” to restore power lines in parts of Cebu.

Aboitiz Group president and CEO Sabin Aboitiz added that the company has released various assistance such as calamity assistance, calamity leave, and emergency loans to its affected team members. Apart from this, the end-of-year salaries of those affected have been credited in advance to provide timely financial support.

The Aboitiz Group, through its various business units and the Aboitiz Foundation, has earmarked P9 million for disaster relief in Visayas and Mindanao. The relief operations, the group said, cover various cities in Cebu province such as Cebu City, Naga, Toledo, Lapu-Lapu, and Balamban, as well as other typhoon-hit areas like Bohol, Bacolod, and Bukidnon.

Celebrities step up

Andi Eigenmann, who lives in Siargao with her surfer fiancé Philmar Alipayo, pledged that they will donate their vlog earnings to those severely affected by Typhoon Odette. The couple have a YouTube channel, “Happy Islanders,” with 2.41 million subscribers as of this writing.

The actress was in Batangas along with her children to attend a friend’s wedding when the typhoon struck. Their flight back to Siargao Island was canceled due to the typhoon.

“On Dec. 16, 2021, Typhoon Odette hit Siargao Island (and other neighboring islands and provinces) and devastated our island home,” the couple said in their vlog posted on Sunday, Dec. 19. “We are grateful that our family and friends are safe but most of them have lost their homes and are in need of food, water, among others.”

“With this, we will be using our earnings from our coming videos to help slowly rebuild our island home again,” they added.

Miss Universe Philippines 2021 winner Beatrice Luigi Gomez, in a Facebook post, asked the public for donations as her family from Cebu experienced firsthand the wrath of the typhoon. She added that her family was safe from Odette.

Actress Nadine Lustre has also called for donations to help those badly affected. Her fans, calling themselves “Naddicts,” meanwhile have raised close to P202,000 as of Tuesday.

“The Queen of All Media” Kris Aquino, in an Instagram post, said that she could not forget about the victims of the typhoon, and revealed that she has worked with Angel Locsin for relief efforts.

Aquino was spotted with Vice President Leni Robredo in Kabankalan, Negros Occidental on Tuesday to distribute relief goods and assess the areas affected by the onslaught of Odette.

Other celebrities also extended help to the victims of Odette.

Challenges

Although air and sea assets are being utilized to support the needs of the residents of areas affected by T Odette, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) admitted that the ongoing relief operations face logistical challenges.

Mark Timbal, spokesperson of NDRRMC, said the agency is organizing round-the-clock and massive relief operations in the affected areas in Visayas and Mindanao.

Timbal told "One News Now" on Tuesday that authorities are using sea and land assets “of both the government and private sector partners going in and out of the key locations to deliver and transport relief items in form of food packs, water, shelter materials, and other equipment and personnel that will be supporting the operations.”

"We are surmounting those challenges in the logistics aspect of our relief operations because we have prepositioned and readied in advance different assets of the government," Timbal explained.

He said the Philippine Navy, Philippine Coast Guard, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, through the Air Force of the Philippines, have committed their air assets including the C-130 as well as the new Black Hawk choppers for the purpose of relief operations.

Timbal said it is a challenge that there are some areas that still don't have power and mobile signals. “That's why we have limited communication but coordination continues.”

Timbal cited food items, drinking water and materials for shelter as the main items that the NDRRMC is transporting using these logistic assets.

Timbal also said that the public, who would want to donate, should regularly coordinate with barangays for the drop-off of relief goods.

"It appears that some of the local government unit personnel are spread very thinly across a very large area of their jurisdictions so some of them may not be able to do a house-to-house delivery of the relief items," he pointed out.

"So coordination between the residents and the barangays are needed so every family will be able to receive these relief items that the national government is providing as augmentation to the supplies of the local government units," he added.

As of Tuesday morning, the NDRRMC spokesperson disclosed that telecommunication services are now restored in 107 out of the 135 cities and municipalities.

"This ongoing consolidation involves the validation and clarification, the details of the situation of the casualties because of the problem in communication in some areas it's possible that some instances had [been] reported multiple times," he said.

"So we're trying to make sure that all of these numbers are definite and identities and circumstances of deaths are identified," he added. – With Franz Lewin Embudo, Emmanuel Tupas, Louella Desiderio