SAN FRANCISCO, Southern Leyte -- Eight months after Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai) struck the Philippines, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), in partnership with the German Red Cross and International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), continues to assist severely affected communities. It also sustains its support to Baybay City, which was badly hit by Tropical Depression Agaton in April this year.

Starting this week, the PRC will be distributing Php173 million-worth of cash and emergency shelter assistance in Southern Leyte, Leyte, Palawan, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, Cebu, Bohol, Dinagat Islands, Siargao, and Surigao del Norte.

Today, the PRC, under the leadership of Chairman and CEO Richard J. Gordon, provided cash and emergency shelter assistance to more than 400 families in San Francisco and Pintuyan towns in Southern Leyte. Each family received Php5,000, CGI (corrugated galvanized iron) sheets, and shelter tool kits. Today’s humanitarian aid distribution makes a total of more than 6,000 Odette-affected families in Southern Leyte province who have received cash and emergency shelter assistance from the PRC, amounting to Php40.78 million.

Meanwhile, 400 families in Hilongos, Southern Leyte also received CGI sheets and shelter tool kits.

In March 2022, PRC also gave cash to 491 families in Hilongos, amounting to a total of Php2.455 million.

In Baybay, PRC will provide cash assistance to 587 families, with a total amount of Php2.935 million as part of its response operations.

“Katulad ng sinabi ko sa simula ng 2022, hindi natin kakalimutan ang Typhoon Odette. At nandito tayo nang pangmatagalan para sa mga naapektuhan ng Tropical Depression Agaton. Patuloy ang Red Cross sa pagtulong sa ating mga kababayan sa Southern Leyte at Leyte hanggang sila ay makabawi mula sa mga epekto ng Odette at Agaton. Sabi nga ng Philippine Red Cross hymn, ‘When the world no longer watches, we do what must be done',” Gordon emphasized. (Philippine Red Cross)