As I’ve mentioned in my previous posts regarding the Philippines being in a state of calamity, a lot of areas in Metro Manila were massively flooded and many people were severely affected with it. According to more news, as of September 27, Sunday, at least 73 persons were killed and nearly 70,000 families were displaced by massive flooding after Typhoon Ondoy (international name Ketsana).

Relief operations have been ongoing, but the scale of the devastation is still overwhelming. However, although food and donations are good short term, helping rebuild the severely affected areas is best long term. Industrial equipment, as you know, is quite expensive. Philippine President Arroyo said the government was planning to extend an extra 150,000-peso individual home improvement loan to help typhoon-hit victims rebuild houses. The US government is also bringing in heavy-lift helicopters, trucks, bulldozers and forklifts to be used to bring supplies and relief goods to the flood victims, as well as to help clean-up the areas affected by the flood.

I do suggest to those who intend to donate cash to do it via the ABS-CBN Sagip Kapamilya Foundation and the Philippine National Red Cross. After all, with all the commotion, the chances of that money ending up unmonitored to the politician’s pockets are immense.