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UFO donates for Leyte landslide victims
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Posted on Apr 07 2006
The United Filipino Organization has donated $500 or about P25,000 for the Leyte landslide recovery efforts.
The donation check was presented to Philippine Consul General Wilfrido Maximo last week, UFO president Rudy Pamintuan said yesterday.
He said the money was raised from the group’s recently concluded annual basketball league on Saipan.
“It’s a successful basketball league. The donation was voluntary from people who watched the event,” said Pamintuan.
He said people paid $1 each during the playoffs and the championship last March at the Gilbert C. Ada Gymnasium in Susupe.
“It’s a worthwhile cause. The gym overflowed with people; they had to sit on the floor to watch,” said Pamintuan.
UFO consists of 26 Filipino organizations in the CNMI. It sponsors a basketful league every year for six years now.
RESPONSIVE COMMUNITY
Pamintuan said that based on his experience, Filipinos in the CNMI have always been quick to help when there are emergencies in the Philippines such as the tragic landslide which buried a whole village in Southern Leyte last February.
The tragedy reportedly left over 1,000 people dead in Guinsaugon, St. Bernard, Southern Leyte. Rescuers had retrieved only 135 bodies.
More than a month after the landslide, monetary donations from overseas continue to pour in, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
DFA said that over $78,000 has been donated by various donors from the U.S.
In Leyte, government officials said that most donations are in kind, particularly housing units for the survivors and evacuees from other villages classified as geologically hazardous areas.
Other donations are in the form of scholarships for the surviving minors.
The provincial government reportedly said that it received cash donations totaling P5.2 million and $20,360.
The government said it has been transparent regarding the donations, noting that “all donations were receipted.”
Reports said there are about 3,314 evacuees, including 648 from Guinsaugon, who are housed in five evacuation centers in the town.
