S prawled across the carpeted floor while watching their favorite television cartoons, children and their parents displaced by the wrath of tropical storm Ondoy were having a blast. They cannot imagine living it up in comfortable surroundings, a far cry from the congested evacuation centers where they came from. Violeta Diez, a 36-year old mother of one who came with her parents and siblings, couldn’t ask for more. “Malaking ginhawa ang pagkakalipat namin dito. Hindi siksikan at palaging may pagkain. Carpet paang tinutulugan namin. (It’s a great relief being here. It is not congested and there’s always food to eat. The floor where we sleep is even carpeted),” says Violeta, one of over a hundred evacuees currently staying in Malacañang, converted in to a relief and evacuation center on orders of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to help the victims of Ondoy.

Violeta and her fellow evacuees are housed at the Ceremonial Hall, where official palace functions such as inductions and Vin d’ Honneur for visiting dignitaries are held. The other families are staying at the Mabini hall located on the other side of the palace grounds.

While the atmosphere at the Ceremonial Hall at the second floor was a little bit homey, downstairs at the Kalayaan Hall, the pace is rather frenetic.

Volunteer workers were busy as bees repackaging goods, dispatching them and attending to so many other details an operation such as Oplan Sagip Bayan entails. As of Saturday, a total of 3,264 volunteers have helped in the operations. A total of 6,100 family packs have already been loaded to eight military vehicles ready for dispatch to Marilao in Bulacan, San Mateo in Rizal, Cupang, in Muntinlupa, and Malibay in Pasay. In an eight-hour period last starting 7 a.m. Saturday, repacked relief goods were sent to three areas benefiting 1,850 families which brought the cumulative total to 81,275 affected families served to date. Donations in cash and kind received by Oplan Sagip Bayan for flood relief has reached P20.1 million, according to Presidential Management Staff Chief Hermogenes Esperon. The center received P1.3 million worth of foodstuffs and non-food relief items Saturday.

Meanwhile, NFA rice will be delivered to the Palace starting today to be sold wholesale and retail at regulated prices for non-victims of Ondoy.

Cookie Aydinan, PMS chief of staff, said the rolling stores will be set up adjacent to the operations center. # # # 

Oplan Sagip Bayan Donation Reaches P28.5-million

D onations for Malacañang’s Oplan Sagip Bayan has reached P28. 5 million since it started operations last Monday. The donations will be distributed to the thousands of calamity victims in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Rizal Province.

In a press briefing, Deputy Spokesperson Anthony Golez said 103,676 families affected by tropical storm Ondoy have been served by Oplan Sagip Bayan while volunteers for the government’s relief and evacuation efforts totaled 4,203.

Many of the volunteers are students from different schools, colleges and universities who made the most out of the suspension of classes last week in Metro Manila and Rizal Province.

Golez thanked Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio Lagdameo for donating P2 million from the Antonio O. Florendo Foundation to the relief efforts of the government. The donation was received by Presidential Management Staff (PMS) Head Secretary Hermogenes Esperon, Jr.

Private companies and non-government organizations likewise continue to provide food and non-food items to the Oplan Sagip Bayan center at the Kalayaan Hall of Malacañang. These items are repacked and distributed to affected families in Metro Manila and Rizal Province.

Aside from Lagdameo, other donations came from Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co., P5 million in cash; Asia America Initiative, water purifiers and sachets worth P2.27 million; Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction Co. Ltd, P1.013 million worth of rice and mineral water; the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), P962,000 worth of plastic mats; food items from the PNOC Exploration Corp. worth P880,769;

National Food Authority (NFA) Central Office with 500 sacks of rice worth P625,000; Coca Cola Co. with 160 cases of beverages and mineral water worth P500,000; Euro Med Laboratories Phils. Inc. with P376,320 worth of distilled water; Liwayway Marketing Corp. with P332,400 worth of bread; M/Sgt. Arnel Florian Dado with P250,000 worth of groceries; Mayor Kimi Cojuangco with P225,000 worth of t-shirts and canned goods; Pampanga Mayors’ League with hamburgers worth P178,000; and Office of the Vice President with assorted food items worth P161,576, among others.

Oplan Sagip Bayan was launched by President Arroyo last Monday following the onslaught of typhoon Ondoy. She opened the gates of Malacanang as relief and evacuation center for the victims. The center also provides temporary shelters for hundreds of individuals displaced by the typhoon. It is being managed by the Presidential Management Staff and the Department of Social Welfare and Development. # # #

Released by the
Philippine Consulate General

3600 Wilshire Blvd., Ste. 500

Los Angeles, CA 90010

Tel. (213) 639-0980/Fax (213)639-0990

Website – www.philippineconsulatela.org