GIVING BACK. Members of civic organizations in Tacloban and An Waray Party-list are shown during the launching of “Balik-Bulig” (giving back) drive at Robinsons North Tacloban on Nov. 8, 2019. The generous amount received from different parts of the country and the world has prompted the groups to gather more donations for the quake victims in Mindanao. (Photo courtesy of An Waray Party-list)
TACLOBAN CITY – Civic organizations and a party-list group based in this city have tied up for the “Balik-Bulig” (giving back) drive for the earthquake victims in Mindanao.
The generous amount of help received from different parts of the country and the world has prompted the different groups to gather more donations for the Filipinos in the south, said An Waray Party-list Representative Florencio Noel in a media interview on Monday.
“Among Filipinos, people in Mindanao were the first to respond and to reach ground zero. The Waray-speaking have not forgotten this act of empathy from their neighbors down south. Thus, six years after the typhoon, we are returning the favor to Mindanao after a series of earthquakes caused untold damage to lives and properties in Central Mindanao and Davao Del Sur,” Noel told reporters.
The project, being led by Junior Chamber International (JCI) Tacloban Love, Inc., is in partnership with An Waray party-list, Rotary Club of Kandaya, and the San Juanico Eagles Club. These groups have synchronized all efforts to generate donations and the relief work that will follow.
This effort aligns with the ongoing relief operations named Oplan Kaagapay - a national project of JCI Philippines implemented in times when disaster hits areas in the Philippines, said JCI Tacloban Love, Inc. president Rex Palompon.
“The first batch of donations will be shipped by JCI to Cotabato on November 16 or 17 in coordination with JCI chapters in Mindanao,” Palompon said.
These organizations launched the “Balik-Bulig” drive on November 8 in time for the sixth year commemoration of Super Typhoon Yolanda. The collection of cash and in kind donations will run until November 16.
The successive strong quakes that jolted parts of Mindanao in the last days of October left 16 persons dead, two missing, and 403 injured, based on a report by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. (PNA)
