Some 8,000 people in the United Arab Emirates offered a “walk for life" Friday for the relief and rehabilitation of victims of tropical storm "Ondoy" (Ketsana) in the Philippines.
A report on online news site Khaleej Times Saturday said the participants showed up at the Safa Park for the “Lakbay Buhay (Walk for Life)."
“It was fun to have joined in this walk for a cause, but the most important is the successful raising of funds for the typhoon victims," said Lucille Ong, president of the Philippine Business Community.
Ong said the funds would be turned over to the Red Crescent in Dubai, which would channel it to the Philippine Red Cross for the relief and rehabilitation of the Ondoy victims.
Ong said the 5,000 tickets issued to the first batch of registrants were used up in only 30 minutes.
Registration took from 7 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Friday, as organizers sought to accommodate the stream of participants who included people of other nationalities as well.
While there was no official estimate on how much the walk raised, the report said it could be around some 500,000 dirhams (P6,323,849).
The death toll from Ondoy increased "significantly" as of Thursday night, breaching the 300 mark, the National Disaster Coordinating Council said.
NDCC also said the damage to property breached the P10-billion mark, including P3.684 billion in infrastructure and P6.766 billion in agriculture. - GMANews.TV
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