Moët Hennessy Asia Pacific extends relief, donates to Philippine Red Cross

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People all around the world, and from different countries brought out sympathy and support during this most trying time for our country. 

Moët Hennessy Asia Pacific – Philippine Representative Office sympathizes with the entire Filipino nation as the devastation brought by the typhoon Yolanda shattered landscapes and left massive number of Filipinos in the Visayas region displaced due to lack of shelter, food, water, and medicines. 

While countless of lives were also appallingly swept away by what is known to be the strongest typhoon in the world to date, thousands are still in dire need of help. 

In this light, the Moët Hennessy Asia Pacific – Philippines Representative Office puts aside its much sought Hennessy Artistry Halo 2013 slated on November 15, at the NBC Tent in Global City to empathize with the Filipinos and extend relief assistance. 

Moët Hennessy Asia Pacific will be in direct coordination with the Philippine Red Cross to provide donation in aide of the organization’s ongoing disaster management services and humanitarian relief operations. 

The disaster is indeed unimaginable and the scope is heart wrenching. If we could heed the call for “The Global Art of Mixing” for the annual Hennessy Artistry Halo and bring together various genres of music from artists of diverse and multicultural act, let us join hands for another purpose: to bring hope and music back to the lives of countless Filipinos. Though the night of good music for Halo 2013 shall be put on hold, we encourage everyone across the world that have been supportive of the Hennessy Artistry events to take a moment of prayer and find ways to help rebuild spirits of Filipinos through little acts of generosity and sacrifices. 

Put together each of our efforts, no matter the volume, we can make positive change. 

The Halo event would have had international and local artists performing both solo and in collaboration, to be headlined by Swedish DJ Duo Cazzette with their unique brand of house, dub-step, trance and funk. Other artists that were also set to join the Halo 2013 event are Australian pop star Timomatic, our very own Nicole Asensio, including Urban Dub, hip-hop DJ and Drummer Duo Motherbasss and DJ Jessica Milner. 

Hennessy Artistry Halo Manila is rescheduled on January 24, 2014.

#YolandaPH Update: Operation Blessing Begins Relief Missions in Leyte, Iloilo, Samar and Coron

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DESPITE the difficulties and perils, the disaster response teams of Operation Blessing Philippines, the humanitarian arm of CBN Asia, have already entered and have set bases in the four provinces worst hit by super typhoon Yolanda.

The Operation Blessing team confirmed television footages and newspaper acounts on the massive devastation caused by Yolanda, describing the damage to life, property, infrastructure and livelihood as unprecented.

“The extent of super typhoon Yolanda’s damage is nothing that the Philippines has ever experienced,” said Dr. Kim Pascual, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Operation Blessing Philippines.

She adds that while Philippines has experienced countless natural disasters in the past, nothing has prepared the country for the catastrophic effects of this super typhoon.

Latest death toll reported by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) is now at is now at 2,275 with more than 3,500 wounded and hundreds more still missing.

Reports estimate the economic impact of the super typhoon as somewhere between $12 to $14 billion with major public infrastructures such as roads, schools and government buildings almost wiped out.

As of yesterday, Operation Blessing has already set up base in the critical areas of Tacloban, Leyte; Guiuan, Samar ; Iloilo and Coron, Palawan.

“These are four of the areas hardest hit by the multiple landfalls of Yolanda. Despite the insurmountable logistical challenges that we face, we need to act and go where we are needed so we can be a blessing to those who have lost so much,” Dr. Kim adds.

According to the report of the Operation Blessing team in Tacloban, the situation remains chaotic as many non-government organizations (NGOs) are being held at the town hall because of security threats. New People’s Army (NPA) troops are reportedly hijacking vehicles loaded with relief goods. This threat and the torrential rains, notwithstanding, the Operation Blessing team is now on ground with 3,000 packs of relief goods donated by Operation Blessing partners in Davao City and 1,200 packs of relief goods donated by Korean nationals. Part of the relief goods will be distributed to other towns in Leyte which are equally badly hit by the typhoon but have not received aid from the government and other NGOs.

The Operation Blessing team brings with them two days worth of medicines for the planned medical mission. Another Operation Blessing team will be travelling tomorrow to distribute relief goods in Ormoc and other towns.

Operation Blessing also reached Guiuan, Samar, the first town to experience Yolanda’s fury, last night after a grueling 36-hour land trip. Guiuan residents were overjoyed in seeing the Operation Blessing teamwhich was the first humanitarian group that has entered their town after the devastation brought by Yolanda.

“Almost 90% of the infrastructures, including the town hall and hospitals, were destroyed. There is no electricity, no food and no water. The closest place where residents could get food is an another town 5-hours away. The good thing here is that there is no flood and the peace and order situation is under control,” Dr. Kim said.

The Operation Blessing team has already distributed relief goods to 75 families in Barangay Poblacion and has established a tent and a vehicle van as the local base camp. SATPHONE has been transported as communication lines are still down.

In Iloilo, the Operation Blessing team has set up a base camp in the towns of Sara and Estancia and coordination with local partners has been underway to launch relief efforts in the province as soon as the aid arrives.

“The first batch of the team came four days ago and has been visiting northern towns to come up with situational assessment reports. Another batch came today to help out and look for more areas to be served outside of Iloilo to include the provinces of Roxas, Aklan and Antique,” explains Dr. Kim.

Boxes of medicines are already on the way to be used by local volunteer doctors in the medical mission that will be launched as soon as possible.

Yesterday, the Operation Blessing team arrived and set base in Coron, Palawan with relief goods transported via a private plane offered for free. The team immediately coordinated with the local government and churches for an efficient and systematic distribution of the relief goods.

The Operation Blessing is also preparing to move in to northern parts of the province, including Daanbantayan town and Bantayan Island, where Yolanda’s toppling winds made relief efforts a challenge. Medical mission will be held on Tuesday in Bantayan Island.

“Our teams report the extent of damage not just on life and property but more importantly on the spirits of our countrymen. Images of desperation, hopelessness, and despair are what our teams encounter each day. These images all the more motivate us to reach out and do more,” Dr. Kim said.

Dr. Kim expressed appreciation to the generous donors and partners of Operation Blessing as she appealed for more help and support to be able to serve more people who are now in desperate conditions.

To know more about Operation Blessing Foundation Philippines, visit www.obphil.com or this page http://obphil.com/v2/page/p/visayas-needs-your-help.

More updates of the relief mission are found in www.obphil.com/yolanda, www.facebook.com/obphil and www.twitter.com/obphil.

http://cbnasia.org/home/2013/11/yolandaph-update-operation-blessing-begins-relief-missions-in-leyte-iloilo-samar-and-coron/

HelpPH: Global donation campaign for relief, reconstruction, rehab launched

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Mobile phone users all over the world can donate via text for relief, shelter, continuing education, livelihood programs

In response to the needs of communities devastated by Super Typhoon Haiyan/ Yolanda in the Philippines, the Philippine Disaster Recovery Foundation (PDRF) has launched HelpPH (help.ph<http://help.ph>), a global campaign for donations via mobile load to help fund programs for relief and reconstruction in partnership with international organizations, Philippine NGOs, government agencies and private companies.

Mobile phone users from over 40 countries can now directly donate to HelpPh (www.helpphilippines.ph<http://www.helpphilippines.ph>) by sending airtime load to PDRF through BayadLoad, a mobile money service of Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (the Philippine Central Bank) for this purpose.

To contribute to HelpPh, mobile phone subscribers overseas must key-in +63-999-7-000-000<tel:%2B63-999-7-000-000> (12-digits) as the beneficiary mobile number and then send their donation  using the airtime top-up procedure of their specific mobile network operator.  The maximum amount per day is US$10.  This fund-raising program will continue until December 31, 2013.

“The unprecedented scale of the devastation inflicted by Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda requires a global response.  Through HelpPh, we are providing people all over the world the means to send help to those in greatest need through a few clicks on their mobile phones,” said PDRF chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.

The United Nations recently initiated a global effort to raise US$310 million for the Philippines in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda.  One proven channel for international donations is through mobile phones.

According to a CNN Money report, a donation via text campaign raised US$25 million four days after Japan was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, while a donation drive for the victims in the 2010 Haiti earthquake generated over US$150 Million.

Through Philippine and international partners, funds gathered will be directly channeled to immediate relief efforts and later, to long-term recovery programs in areas of the greatest need.

For this purpose, PDRF is firming up cooperative arrangements with organizations like the Philippine Red Cross, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Caritas Manila, Philippine Business for Social Progress, Gawad Kalinga, the United States Agency for International Development and the GSMA, the global association of the mobile phone industry.

Immediate relief operations will be prioritized for remote areas not reached by mainstream relief distribution. Corporate members will be tapped to provide transport, logistics and communications support to enabletimely coordination of relief efforts by government and relief agencies.

This includes “information as relief” to provide affected communities with news and information through mobile phones, the Internet, social media and satellite TV, as well as medical relief through on-the-ground missions, telemedicine and psycho-social therapy.

Initial partners for this effort include Alagang Kapatid Foundation, Caritas Manila, PLDT-Smart Foundation, Maynilad  Water Services, Philippine Red Cross and TV5 network.

For shelter and resettlement, PDRF will work with various partners including Gawad Kalinga, Habitat for Humanity, One MERALCO Foundation and  Philippine Contractors Association (PCA).

To provide education for displaced school children, PDRF will help implement innovative learning programs, including mobile learningsystems, in cooperation with the Department of Education, the Central Visayas Institute Foundation and the GSMA.

To sustain the recovery efforts, PDRF and its partners will promote livelihood through emergency employment programs, labor-intensive projects, technical-vocational skills training and enterprise development.

Meanwhile, the microfinance sector will be tapped to help create sustainable livelihood that would give affected families a chance to start anew. Initial partners are the Philippine Business for Social Progress, ASA Philippines, CARD  MRI, Microcredit Council of the Philippines and Land Bank of the Philippines. PDRF is also holding discussions with the United Nations-International Labor Organization and Oxfam to pursue collaborative efforts in these areas.

Through its mobile money subsidiary, Smart has partnered with four leading global mobile airtime transfer companies that include Transfer To, Tranglo,  www.ezetop.com<http://www.ezetop.com>, and Aryty, which together cover more than 250 partner mobile network operators in 90 countries, serving 5.9 billion mobile subscribers, 60 percent of whom, or about 3.6 billion, are prepaid users.

These operators are in countries such as Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, United Kingdom,Greece, Hong Kong, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Macau, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Oman, Qatar, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and the Vatican City, among others.

PDRF was organized in 2009 following the devastation caused by Typhoon Ketsana/Ondoy and is made up of major private sector companies and leading NGOs.

It is one of the three identified institutional conduits approved by the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (Central Bank of the Philippines) together with the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the Philippine Red Cross. To learn more about this, please visit help.ph<http://help.ph>. 

SM Foundation Sends Out 50,000 Relief Packs to Yolanda Victims

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Typhoon Yolanda have caused a massive disaster in the Philippines that needs a swift response to help and save lives in the affected areas.

The SM Group of Companies, through the SM Foundation's disaster relief program, Operation Tulong Express, has started relief operations in typhoon-stricken areas across Luzon and the Visayas region to provide assistance to the families greatly affected by super typhoon Yolanda.

An SM Foundation “Operation Tulong” truck carrying relief goods for disaster survivors arrives in Cebu.

“The SM Group of Companies has mobilized SM Foundation’s Tulong Express disaster relief facility. We are distributing 50,000 kalinga packages to typhoon victims in Tacloban, Samar, Panay Island (Iloilo, Antique, Capiz), Cebu, Bicol and Bacolod," said SM Foundation executive director Debbie Sy.

Following the onslaught of “Yolanda,” SM Foundation volunteers and partners were able to immediately prepare 20,000 relief goods and have repacked 30,000 more for distribution to various areas at once.

Survivors receive aid from “Operation Tulong”, an SM Foundation relief drive, in typhoon-ravaged Cebu.

The Kalinga relief packages consist of bottles of mineral water, rice, ready-to-eat ulam packs, and instant noodles. A total of 50,000 relief packs are allocated in the following areas, Tacloban (20,000 packs); Cebu (10,000); Panay Island (7,000); Samar (5,000); Bohol (4,000); Bicol (3,000); and Bacolod (1,000).

A resident of Cebu clasping a relief pack she received from SM Foundation’s “Operation Tulong”.

The distribution is done in cooperation with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Philippine Air Force, local government units, SM Malls, SM Hypermaket, SM Supermarket, and SaveMore.

SM Foundation also accepts donations in kind through Tulong Express booths in all SM Malls nationwide or in cash deposited at BDO account name: SM Foundation Inc.-Operation Tulong Express with savings account number: 15000 70694. SM Foundation will issue receipt of donations for deposit slips faxed to 831-8282.

For SM employees, they were able to raise more than Php100,000 for the Bohol earthquake victims. Currently, the employees are raising funds for the victims of typhoon Yolanda.

While for its other ongoing relief efforts, the Foundation vowed that it will push through with the assistance it is currently extending to other regions in the country that were hit by previous calamities, such as the earthquake that struck Bohol and Cebu in October and typhoon Maring which battered various parts of the Philippines last August.

#ReliefPH operations for #YolandaPH

JEEPNEY TV HOLDS FIRST ANNIVERSARY CONCERT AS FUNDRAISER FOR #TULONGPH

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Jeepney TV, the home for the Philippines’ daily dose of throwbacks, is commemorating the celebration of its first anniversary with a concert held to benefit relief operations done by the Sagip Kapamilya campaign this Friday (November 15).

With Jeepney TV’s concert entitled “Hapi-Hapi Kaara-One,” special guests from yesterday and today will be performing musical numbers dedicated to the victims of the recent super typhoon Yolanda.

Among the artists performing in Jeepney TV’s first anniversary concert are Mister Pure Energy Gary V, his son Paolo Valenciano, The Voice of the Philippines’ Radha Cuadrado, and the band Fair Warning.

Aside from these performances from some of the country’s favorite acts in the music scene, ABS-CBN Foundation’s Sagip Kapamilya campaign will have a booth where their #TulongPH shirts will be sold as another fundraising move for relief operations.

“Hapi-Hapi Kaara-One” will be held at 19 East Bar and Grill in Sucat, Paranaque. The event will open at 7:00pm. The first 100 registrants will get in for free.

This weekend, on Sunday (November 17) at 9:00pm, Jeepney TV will also be launching a new local show, “Biyaheng Retro,” which will be hosted by Mario Dumaual and “Be Careful With My Heart’s” Janella Salvador.

Jeepney TV is available on SkyCable channel 9 and other leading cable systems nationwide. For more updates and programming schedules, like www.facebook.com/JeepneyTV.