Pinoys in UAE raise funds for 'Sendong' victims

Published December 19, 2011 5:30pm

Filipinos in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have started raising funds for the victims in the Philippines of tropical storm "Sendong" (international name: Washi).

According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the death toll from "Sendong" reached almost 700 on Monday afternoon.

NDRRMC head Benito Ramos said the number of fatalities reached 684 as of 3:30 p.m. on Monday. Office of Civil Defense Region 10 head Ana Cañedan said most of the fatalities (632) were from Region 10, including:

Cagayan de Oro City (336); from
Iligan City (279); and
Bukidnon (17).

A report of the news site "Khaleej Times" said the Philippine Consulate in Dubai helped Filipino expatriates in the UAE find out about their families back home in the Philippines. Consul General Benito Valeriano said the Filipino community's governing council, the Philippine Business Council and charity organizations have started collecting funds for immediate relief operations. Alan Bacason, president of the Governing Council of the Filipino Community, said the council met on Sunday night to draw up plans for the relief of typhoon victims. “I have already authorized all presidents of the 99 member-organisations to start collecting cash so we can send at once money for the relief operations. But, we met to determine the fastest way possible to send the cash donations as this situation is really emergency,” he said in the report. - VVP, GMA News

Tags: sendong, unitedarabemirates, pinoysinuae