Pinoys in Jeddah use 'bayanihan' spirit to give aid for typhoon-hit RP

JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia - Following the surge of foreign aid that the country has been receiving, Filipino groups in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia have also sent some assistance to the victims of typhoons “Ondoy" and “Pepeng" in the Philippines.

“It’s very nice to see our fellow OFWs uniting for a common cause of helping our distressed kababayan in our homeland,.I hope this will continue forever," said Rizaldy Javing of the Circulo Ilongo in Saudi Arabia.

Javing’s group is one of the many organizations that went to the DHL Warehouse in the Sulaymania District to send their donations to the Philippines in the past week.

Among the groups involved were Migrante Saudi Arabia, the Kasapi Congress, the Overseas Filipino Workers Cooperative Council, Tau Gamma Phi Jeddah Council, Desert Falcons Chapter of the Philippine Guardians Brotherhood Inc., Hawak Kamay group, and some religious groups.

“Today we come here not as a member of organizations but as Filipino individuals to give our assistance to the victims of the recent typhoons that hit our country," said Jauhari Usman of the group Ating Gabay OFW.

Kasapi Chairman Vic Aguila thanked international cargo forwarder DHL for providing free air shipment of relief goods for the typhoon victims. “In behalf of the Filipino community aside from DHL, we also thank Wilson Casquejo for his contributions to the success of this campaign," he said.

Casquejo, DHL's operation supervisor, in turn thanked the Filipino community for responding to the calls to help the victims. “It is our obligation to help our kabayan who are victims of this strong typhoon that hit our country and DHL is always available to help." He said.

He said the Filipino community donated a total of seven containers of assorted relief goods.

In addition to the groups mentioned above, among those that donated relief goods for the typhoon victims were the medical and nursing staffs of Abuzinadah Hospital, the Alhekma International School, Gems International School and King Abul Aziz Hospital.

The others were Philippine Institute of Certified Accountant (PICPA), WFA group, Laparilla Resturant, Vic Aguila, Corlito Obtinalla, Mat Bubong, Ali Nasser of UBC, Soler Garlan of Baloi, Freddie Ermitanyo, Philipp Luyun and John Adey from the National Commercial Bank.

Ed and Gigi Santos of Friends in Jeddah Music Club, Saudia City Tennis Club, Jauhari Usman, Pizza Hut, LOREMI, El Khereiji Company, Dr. Bagedo Erfan Hospital, Migrante International, Bag-ong Bicol Saro, Atoy Esguerra, Rizaldy Javing, Saudi Cable Company, Tau Gamma Phi Jeddah Council, El Maghraby Medical Company, Dessert Knights Demolay and dad Alumni Chapter Jeddah;

Philippine Guardian Brotherhood Inc., Makati Express, Merex forwarders, AlMabani Company, Raymond Saudi Arabia Ltd., Danube Co., PGBI under Founder Mel Gamit, and the Philippine Consulate.

In addition, Metrobank provided breakfast for the Filipino community while the Laparilla Restaurant and other cargo companies like the Skyfreight Forwarder served as drop-off points for the transport of the relief goods.

Earlier, the Department of Foreign Affairs reported that Filipinos in Hawaii, Israel, UAE, Switzerland, Australia, and the United Kingdom have also sent home donations. - GMANews.TV