Laos donates $15,000 to Sendong victims

By Virgil B. Lopez

Saturday, December 31, 2011

FOREIGN donations aimed at helping areas recover from Tropical Storm Sendong (international name: Washi) continue to pour on Saturday with Laos, a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, added to the list.

The Philippine Embassy in Vientiane reported to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) that the Lao Government has extended $15,000 in donations for Sendong victims during a ceremony held at the Lao Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA).

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Ambassador Maria Lumen Isleta received the check for the Philippines as Laos expressed sympathies on the loss of lives and damage to property in the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro.

A nation of seven million, Laos cashed in on its growing tourism and mining industries to push the economy forward in recent years.

Laos economy, however, is nearly 30 times smaller than the Philippines, with an estimated gross domestic product (GDP) of $7.49 billion last year, according to the World Bank.

Earlier, the DFA said the Philippines attracted some $12 million worth of financial help from various countries, which excludes donations and pledges without monetary value.

On Thursday, the World Bank said it released $500 million in credit to help in the reconstruction of vital infrastructure, restore basic social services, and enhance the country's preparedness for natural disasters in the future.

Sendong killed 1,257 people after it struck in mid-December while the estimated damage to properties is at P1.38 billion, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said.

The agency considered Sendong as the most destructive among 19 cyclones that visited the country this year, followed by Typhoon Pedring which destroyed some P15.5 billion worth of crops and infrastructure last September.

Red Cross to build 1,000 shelters in Cagayan de Oro

In other developments, some 1,000 shelters for families whose homes were washed away by Sendong will be built on a five-hectare lot in Cagayan de Oro City.

Donated by Jesuit-run Xavier University, the future resettlement site is located at Xavier compound in Lumbia village, a hilly area near the city airport.

This is the first effort from private sectors in partnership with the Philippine Red Cross to build homes for families displaced by Sendong, said chairman Richard Gordon.

Gordon said the Red Cross will build 1,000 shelters initially as soon as the land is ready with basic service facilities and provision for livelihood.

In the meantime, Red Cross will put up tents on the same site for families sheltered in school buildings who have to move out due to the opening of classes in January 2012.

Apart from relief goods and shelters, the Red Cross also provides water equipment that could supply clean drinking water of 160,000 liters for 160,000 people in Cagayan de Oro and 40,000 liters for 40,000 people in Iligan.

Psychosocial support for person traumatized by the devastation wrought by Sendong to human life and property in the affected areas was also provided by the organization. (Sunnex)