FILIPINOS IN BEIJING AND TIANJIN REACH OUT TO THEIR KABABAYANS IN CGO AND ILIGAN CITY

The Filipino communities in Beijing and Tianjin, along with their friends, pooled their resources together to help the victims of typhoon Sendong in Cagayan De Oro and Iligan City

Chargé d’ Affaires  ALEX G. CHUA met with Mrs. Sally Silud of Couples for Christ-China chapter  on 16 January 2012 to receive the donations from  various Filipino groups and individuals in Beijing and Tianjin for the purchase of 23 tents.  These tents, which will be used as temporary shelters, can each accommodate eight people.

“This donation is testament that the spirit of bayanihan is alive and well among our kababayans in Beijing and Tianjin,” said CDA Chua.  The total cash pooled from Filipino individuals and organizations amounted to RMB 27,600 (equivalent to  Php180,000),  which is enough to buy 23 tents.

Mrs. Silud said that the donors are people from different walks of life – Filipino teachers, housewives, musicians, artists, hotel managers, businessmen, and doctors, in addition to the members of the Pinoy Overseas Photographers (POP-Beijing), and the Filipino community in Tianjin.

“Actually, some of us have already contributed to the relief efforts in one way or another, but when the Embassy called for the Filipino community in Beijing to join hands, the love just came pouring in,“ said Marco Torres, Associate Director of a design company and a recipient of the 2011 Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas,  who emailed his friends about the tent drive.

The tents were transported from Beijing by Philippine Airlines, free of charge, to the affected communities in the Philippines through the Office of Civil Defense in the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Monitoring Council (NDRRMC.)