MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Customs (BOC) Enforcement and Security Service yesterday donated another 374 sacks of rice and more than 5,040 tins of luncheon meat to the victims of Typhoon Ompong through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
Ronald Reonal, DSWD-National Response and Logistics Management Service representative, accepted the donations in the ceremonial turnover during the BOC’s flag-raising ceremony yesterday morning.
“To help our kababayans who were affected by the recent calamity that devastated several areas in Northern Luzon, the Bureau of Customs decided to provide our fellow Filipinos with humanitarian aid through the DSWD,” Commissioner Isidro Lapeña said in a statement.
This is the fourth time the BOC made a donation to help victims of the recent typhoon pursuant to the order of Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III for the agency to identify goods that could be donated to the typhoon victims.
Last week, the Manila International Container Port (MICP) also gave 109 packages of emergency survival blankets, 153 packages of face masks, 350 boxes of bed sheets, blankets and towels and 1,332 boxes of brand new clothes.
Aside from these goods from the ESS and MICP, the Port of Cebu also donated 14 containers of rice that were forfeited in favor of the government. The Port of Zamboanga also gave at least 6,921 bags of glutinous rice to DSWD.
Meanwhile, the FilComBei, a Filipino non-profit socio-civic group in Beijing, China, was able to raise more than P90,000 in cash donations to help the victims of Typhoon Ompong that hit the Philippines on Sept. 15, leaving at least 95 dead and an estimated P14.27-billion damage to agriculture and infrastructure in Cagayan Valley and Cordillera Administrative Region.
Through the WeChat messaging app, FilComBei was able to collect donations from those who wanted to help the typhoon victims. It also contributed more than P20,000 from its “Tulong Fund.”
FilComBei is a non-profit socio-civic group that aims to make the spirit of bayanihan alive among Pinoys in Beijing. – With Charmie Joy Pagulong