Donors in Brunei used their mobile phones to donate to victims of two recent destructive cyclones that lashed the Philippines in September and October.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) cited a report from the Philippine Embassy in Brunei that the Brunei government allows "text donations" of up to B$20 (P680).
"(Last October 22), the Brunei Government’s Ministry of Culture, Youth, and Sports launched the SMS Brunei Prihatin Initiative, which enables the public to use text messages to donate to the humanitarian fund for Indonesian earthquake and Philippine typhoon victims. The public can donate denominations of B$1, $5, $10, $15, and $20 to the fund until 30 November 2009," the DFA said.
Subscribers of DSTCom and B-Mobile networks customers can text “Bantu20" to number 38111 for a donation of $20, “Bantu15" for a $15 donation, and so on.
A Brunei dollar is equivalent to P34.
The text-to-donate initiative also aimed to benefit victims of a recent earthquake in Indonesia.
Other initiatives undertaken in Brunei include:
* On Oct. 19, the International Women’s Club (IWC) of Brunei arranged for the delivery of medical supplies and medicine and multivitamins worth B$3,000 (P99,750) to the Chancery. At the Embassy’s request, Royal Brunei Airlines waived excess baggage charges for up to 60 kg of
the said boxes. The medicine/multivitamins will be sent to the Philippines on Friday.
* On Oct. 23, Mituo Vege Restaurant turned over B$3,015 to the Philippine Embassy. The said amount was part of the proceeds of “Eat and Pay as You Wish" buffet held last Oct. 18.
* On Oct. 22, Nusa Laila Puteri School sent directly to the Philippine National Red Cross its donation of P31,265.49. The proceeds were wired through HSBC Brunei.
* On Oct. 22, Couples for Christ – Brunei Chapter turned over its donation of B$500 (P16,500) for the typhoon victims.
* On Oct. 23, Alicia Khor and her 15 friends donated B$7,000 for the purchase of 70 coffins for the victims of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng.
The Embassy remitted the amount to DSWD’s peso account last Oct. 24.
Other donations include assorted food items, used clothes, and drinking water.
Philippine Ambassador to Brunei Darussalam Alexander B. Yano conveyed his appreciation to these donors.
“Your donation would go a long way in alleviating the plight of the victims," he said.
Meanwhile, Japan said that they would donate another batch of relief assistance to the Philippines, this time to victims at Sitio Sub-urban in San Jose village in Rodriguez (Montalban) town in Rizal province.
"The grant of US$92,780 (approximately P4.4 million) consists of emergency relief package of food and non-food items for 3,200 families (19,000 persons) in Barangay Bagong Silangan, Quezon City and three villages in the Municipality of Montalban, Rizal. This project, in
partnership with the Christian Aid, is implemented through the Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects (GGP)," the Japanese Embassy said. - GMANews.TV
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