PEF supports relief and recovery efforts in Odette-hit areas

Wazzup Pilipinas!?


When Supertyphoon Odette hit Kabankalan City in Negros Occidental, Fe Senining’s house was severely damaged, with all its roof blown away by powerful winds.


“Nagpayong kaming mag-asawa sa loob ng aming bahay buong gabi. Basang basa ang mga gamit namin,” she said.

Senining is one of the thousands of residents in Kabankalan that suffered from Odette’s wrath last December 2021. With no electricity and water supply, food crisis is looming in the holidays.

Responding to the immediate needs of the affected communities, the Peace and Equity Foundation, with the support from 15 different local and national organizations, have extended Php 3.5 million worth of food packs and housing materials to more than 6,800 households in seven provinces affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Odette.

In Negros Ociddental, which suffered an estimated Php 5 billion in damages to properties and livelihood and destroyed thousands of houses, PEF social enterprise partners, Hacienda Malaga Cuenca Agrarian Reform Cooperative, and Crossing Ibos Farmers Credit Cooperative led relief efforts in the sugar farming communities in La Castellana and Kabankalan.

 

Sugar Industry Foundation Inc. and Simag Foundation also spearheaded their own relief efforts to households in Sipalay City, Hinoba-an, and other towns in Negros Occidental.

“On December 19, 2021, the PEF board approved deployment of Php 2 million quick response fund to typhoon-stricken areas for food and non-food needs,” PEF Area Manager Peter Nabong said.

The board then approved an additional Php 1.5 million to support an additional 1,100 affected households on December 27.

“Aside from food packs and hygiene kits, we also provided funds to our partner organizations so they can provide roofing materials to households for home repairs,” Nabong added.

PEF also extended support to Surigao del Norte, one of the first areas hit by the Supertyphoon, through Hinatuan Passage Partnership for People Empowerment, Philippine Partnership for the Development of Human Resources in Rural Areas- Mindanao, and Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation.

Similar efforts by cooperatives, foundations, and people’s organizations were made in Cebu, Bohol, Negros Oriental, Southern Leyte, Dinagat Islands, and Palawan.
With the support she received, Fe Sinining said her worries for what will happen to them in the coming days have lessened.


“Nagpapasalamat po kmi sa tulong ng PEF sa pamamagitan po ng CIFCC. Nabigyan kami kaagad ng ayuda at malaking tulong po sa amin mga pinadala nilang food pack at yero,” she said.