Filipino groups raise funds to help the survivors
Plan in place to send money this week
Dubai: Filipino groups in Dubai have mobilised fundraising campaigns and donations for the victims in the southern Philippines after tropical storm Washi killed more than 500 people and left hundreds more missing in its wake last weekend.
Iliganons of UAE, a Dubai-based organisation of 170 Filipinos who hail from Iligan City, have begun raising funds to send back home early this week. Iligan city is one of two coastal cities badly hit by the tropical storm.
"We have so far collected close to Dh3,500 from our members since Saturday evening. We are waiting for more people to commit to help us raise funds for the storm victims," Lucio Badelles, president of Iliganons of UAE, told Gulf News.
Unaccustomed to tropical storms, the people from Iligan City and Cagayan de Oro City were caught unaware by the ravaging floods. As the storm hit land in the early hours of the morning, many died in their sleep as they were swept away by the current.
"Nobody expected the worst. They knew that a storm was coming but they didn't expect a flashflood," Badelles said. "We thought it would just be an ordinary storm. But when we heard and saw the news, we were all shocked to see the devastation."
Meanwhile, the Filipino Community in Dubai and the Northern Emirates (Filcom-DNE) the umbrella organisation of 99 Filipino groups in the UAE, has created an Emergency Response Team to take charge of fundraising campaigns.
While details for the team have yet to be finalised, Alan Bacason said that he has, for the meantime, "authorised presidents of Filipino organisations in the UAE to receive cash donations and goods from their members for the storm victims".
The Philippine Overseas Labour Office in Dubai has allowed the use of one of its rooms in its Al Ghusais office for use as a stock room for items collected.
