#ReliefPH: Help victims of typhoon Lawin

MANILA, Philippines – Typhoon Lawin (Haima) slammed Northern Luzon on Wednesday, October 19, bringing strong winds and heavy rains to the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, Kalinga, Apayao, Mt. Province, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, and several other provinces. (What’s the latest #WeatherAlert?)

Initial reports from the field indicate damaged infrastructure, agriculture, and disrupted lives. Evacuation centers in Tuguegarao City were reportedly damaged due to the strong winds, exposing many evacuees to the weather overnight. 

Roadways are flooded and some sections of the national highway are impassable due to fallen trees and other obstructions. 

As typhoon Lawin makes its way out of the Philippine Area of Responsibility, the most difficult phase of the disaster begins: response and recovery.

People need your help and support. Donations of food, water, clothing, medicine, and hygiene kits are always needed. Some evacuation centers may need more of certain resources than others. So it’s important to be aware of what help is needed and how best you can provide assistance. 

Rappler’s civic engagement arm, MovePH, is helping the government, civil society, and the private sector crowdsource information on what’s needed and where relief is needed most. This information will be mapped on the Agos Alert Map and published on Rappler X. 

If you have an ongoing relief operation, please post your operation and your call for donations on Rappler X. Rappler will share your post on social media.

If you are in need of any relief, you can Tweet or post on Facebook with the hashtag #ReliefPH. Agos volunteers are monitoring this hashtag and will connect you with organizations who can help.

Here’s a list of relief operations for victims of Typhoon Lawin: 

• Donors in Metro Manila can give their donations to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) at their National Resource Operations Center (NROC) located along Chapel Road, Pasay City (telephone number: (02) 852-8081) or at the DSWD-NCR located at 389 San Rafael St cor Legarda St, Manila (telephone number: (02) 733-0010 to 14).
• The Catholic Church through its social action arm the National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA)/Caritas Philippines is appealing for assistance to families affected by the typhoon particularly in Northern Luzon.  In-kind donations such as food items clothing can also be dropped off to NASSA/Caritas Philippines’ office located in this address: Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), 470 Gen. Luna St., Intramuros, Manila.  To offer assistance to those affected by Supertyphoon Lawin, donations can be deposited through the following bank account. Check out the details here. 
• The Philippine Red Cross launched an appeal for those who wish to deposit their cash donations for the victims of Typhoon Lawin. Details here. 

•  The Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan has launched its call for help to assist in longer-term projects for the benefit of communities affected by Typhoon Lawin. To support them in this initiative, you can send donations through the following options: 

•  Deposit via bank account:

Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan 

(Account Name/Payee)

Bank of the Philippine Islands (Loyola-Katipunan Branch)

BPI Peso Checking Account No.: 3081-1111-61
BPI Dollar Savings Account No.: 3084-0420-12

Swift code: BOPIPHMM

• Personally bring your donation to SLB at the following address:

Loyola House of Studies, Ateneo de Manila University, Loyola Heights, Quezon City 1108 Philippines

 

Response teams of DSWD are also ready to accept donations. Outside Metro Manila, the public can bring their donations to the nearest DSWD field office in their area or to their local government units (LGUs).

Don’t hesitate to ask for DSWD’s help

“They (the public) can directly go to any evacuation center in their locality and distribute their donations. The social workers in the evacuation centers can assist them. They may give clothes, medicines, hygiene kits, food, or hot meals,” DSWD Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said.

“Kailangan po namin talaga ang tulong ng bawat isa sa atin para mapalawig pa natin ang tulong para sa mga kababayan nating biktima ng mga kalamidad. Makakakaasa kayo na ang mga donasyon ninyo ay maipaparating sa kanila,” Taguiwalo said.

(We need the help of everyone to further expand our assistance for our fellow countrymen who are affected by disasters. We assure you that your donations will reach the rightful beneficiaries.)

She reiterated that affected families should not wait for social workers to reach out to them. They can approach the DSWD field office nearest them or their LGUs.

“Huwag po tayong mag-atubiling lumapit para humingi ng tulong kung tayo ay biktima. Sa dami po minsan ng mga apektadong tao ay may nakakaligtaan ang ating gobyerno.”

(Do not hesitate to ask for help. Often, due to the large number of victims, there are some families who may not be reached immediately.)

Agos Alert Map

Those who need relief goods can alert Rappler’s Agos disaster information management platform via Twitter – tag @MovePH or tweet with #ReliefPH. The public can also send an SMS, text 2929 for Smart and Sun subscribers, or directly post on the Agos map. 

Agos is a collaborative platform that combines top-down government action with bottom-up civic engagement to help communities mitigate risks and deal with climate change and natural hazards. – Rappler.com