The COVID-19 pandemic proved no match for the ever-alive empathy and volunteerism of Filipinos, initiating donation drives for the victims of consecutive typhoons. The people are doing the government’s work, basically.
Typhoon Ulysses discharged potent winds and torrential rains that divested almost a hundred lives. Parts of Luzon were crippled, and residents were deluged with more misery while still recovering from Typhoon Rolly. Ulysses is deemed as the most destructive tropical cyclone to blow the country this year, as yet, issuing a worth of ₱7.3B damage to agriculture and ₱12B to infrastructure. The civic consciousness of Filipinos has awakened as people from the different parts of the country unified and initiated programs and approaches to hand assurance to the victims in this period of crisis.
Zamboanga’s Local Heroes
Various donation and fundraising drives have been publicized by many articles online. However, local initiatives and programs deserve praise and visibility too! Many Ateneans and Zamboangueños rose to the task and provided aid, especially to certain parts of Zamboanga that were affected by heavy rains and rising floods as well.
Ateneo de Zamboanga University’s (AdZU) college student government, El Consejo Atenista, launched a donation drive to aid the victims of the typhoon. On November 24, the organization was able to accumulate a total of ₱49,795.37.
The Social Awareness and Community Service Involvement Office (SACSI) initiated a donation drive called #AhonLuzon, an AdZU Ayuda drive for Typhoon Ulysses victims, which garnered a total of ₱186,645.00 for monetary donations.
Nabang Kitabi, a student-led initiative of AdZU’s Muslim Students’ Association, sought out to provide aid for our Muslim countrymen that were affected by the typhoon. The initiative accepted in-kind and monetary donations in coordination with various Muslim student organizations throughout the Philippines.
The AdZU Senior High School’s Humanities and Social Sciences Academic Organization, Hiraya, opened “Paubaya: Gamit Ko, Donasyon Mo”, a donation fair where people can donate directly to the initiative or indirectly by purchasing pre-loved items. The initiative raised a total of ₱9,086.00 in monetary donations and ₱500 in purchase donations.
Task Force Avenida De Ayuda focused on providing monetary and in-kind aid to the flood victims in Bunguiao and Bolong whose homes and sources of livelihood were greatly affected. The flood was swift and unexpected, leaving 932 individuals in need of assistance. They were able to amass ₱50,254.00 in monetary donations.
Roll Call of National Heroes
Sure, national-scale initiatives have basked in the spotlight far too long. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t applaud them for serving our fellow Filipinos in need.
A non-profit Philippine organization established in 1992 of Ateneo de Manila University, Tanging Yaman Foundation, Inc. (Tanging Yaman), received a total of ₱9,449,650.87 monetary donations on the 18th of November. The organization also launched a relief packs distribution to several groups affected by the typhoon. 1,000 families were served in Camarines Sur and as well as in Malanday, Marikina. Moreover, 200 families were served in Pasig Floodway, 300 in Cagayan, and 500 in Tuguegarao.
Nina Ellaine Dizon, the founder, and CEO of local makeup brand Colourette Cosmetics received hate for speaking up about the incompetence and lack of response of the government to the situation in the country. With that, they tried to sabotage her business by trending the hashtag #boycottCOLOURETTEcosmetics. However, instead of disrupting her business, it ended up getting tremendous attention which gained her more customers. More people supported her commission for a cause operation, in which the total sales, not the total profit, was donated to the victims of the typhoon. On December 06, after the deduction of the cost of promotional tools (vouchers, platform discounts, mall fees, and VAT), Ms. Dizon disclosed the total sales of the operation with ₱1,033,234.02.
Filipino fans of public figures did not miss the opportunity to utilize their masses to aggregate relief for the victims. The famous Wattpad writer, Jonahmae Panen Pacala, popularly known as Jonaxx, also initiated a donation drive. The JSL (jonaxxstories lovers), the name of her fandom, cooperated and banded together to accumulate a large number of donations for the victims. On November 21, they were able to raise a total of ₱311,981.07 cash donations.
Eric Nam, an American singer, songwriter, television host in the Korean entertainment industry, acknowledged his fans in a tweet for their successful donation to Tulong Kabataan España. The #NamNation was able to receive a total of ₱66,511.17 monetary donations for the affected victims, including the animals, of the typhoon.
ARMY, the fandom of the world’s biggest boy band, BTS, did not fail to be part of the awakened spirit of Bayanihan in the nation. Almost a hundred existing fanbases in the Philippines have gathered to institute an official donation drive. On November 16, the fans were able to raise a total of ₱3,106,697.92. KPop fans in the Philippines are often ridiculed for expressing their love and dedication to their idols. That being said, the fandom ARMY in the Philippines is oftentimes called “salot sa lipunan”. Who would have known that these masses along with their empathy and dedication extended a big hand to the victims of the typhoon?
Those are only a small fraction of the donation drives and fundraising initiatives done by ordinary Filipino citizens. And look! We all managed to raise these large amounts of money and in-kind donations just by ourselves and by our determination to help the victims of the typhoon. It’s ironic how we, average civilians just exercising our civic consciousness, have done so much compared to the ones who we voted in power. This has become a lesson for us Filipinos that when we unite and take initiative for our advocacies, no one can get in our way.
via Raye Angelique Y. Bongabong and Raihana L. Habbi, The BEACON
