Two years after the Philippines felt the brunt of typhoon “Ondoy”, the country once again faced another major tragedy wrought by nature. Many areas in Metro Manila were submerged in floodwaters, thousands of commuters were stranded as public transportation could not pass the flooded streets and massive power interruptions were experienced. These were the damages brought by the recent typhoons Pedring and Quiel, which hit the country last September 26 and October 1, 2011. The two typhoons also resulted to the evacuation of hundreds of families, damaged houses, and casualties, among others.

Responding to the call of volunteerism, a team of representatives of the Feed the Hungry Inc., a Washington, DC-based Filipino organization led Ms. Celia Donahue and Dr. and Mrs. Willie and Lottie Buhain, and CFO officers conducted a calamity relief operation in Brgy. 149 Baseco, Manila under the umbrella of the CFO’s Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino  or LINKAPIL Program. About 1,000 families affected were given grocery bags from the fund provided by the FTH.  The operation was done in coordination with Ms. Erma Fiestada of the Department of Social Welfare and Development-Manila. The people of Baseco were very thankful as they saw the kilos of rice, canned goods, instant noodles, etc. provided to them.

Deployment of relief and humanitarian assistance are continuously being provided to the affected families by the local government units. It is also significant to note that the civil society and other non-governmental organizations are taking part in helping the country and the people recover from this mishap.