Filipinos in Singapore rush to fill aid vacuum in wake of Typhoon Vamco

The overseas workers have organised fundraisers and donation drives to send relief goods and ready-to-eat meals to northern Luzon
Despite personal financial woes stemming from the coronavirus pandemic, the community has been undeterred in helping thousands of victims

The Philippines

Marielle Descalsota

Published: 9:30am, 29 Nov 2020

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As Typhoon Vamco, the deadliest storm of the year for the Philippines, battered the country’s main island of Luzon earlier this month, Jake Raven, a 24-year-old native of Cagayan province, in Luzon’s northern tip, was watching closely from Singapore.

Raven moved to the city state as a high school student to live with his parents, who emigrated in 1993. Just two months ago, he lost his job in the food and beverage industry, one of the many casualties of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite his personal setback, he began collecting clothing from donors to send back to the Philippines for the thousands of people who were displaced by Typhoon Vamco.

Raven then started a fundraiser online called “A Dollar for Life” for residents of three other towns on Luzon island – Tuguegarao City, Aggunetan, and in Marikina. Most of the donors were Singaporeans who supported his relief efforts to mitigate the plight of almost 500 families devastated by flooding in the wake of the typhoon.

Jake Raven remitting donations for relief efforts in the Philippines. Photo: Cristine De Jesus Osillos

“We are not big organisations, nor politicians, nor celebrities,” Raven said of overseas Filipinos. “We’re regular people who want to help.”

Raven’s efforts reflect just how active Filipino overseas foreign workers in Singapore, who number 90,000, have been during times of crisis back home. Seven years ago, the Singapore Red Cross raised more than S$10 million (US$7.4 million) for the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, with many of the donations coming from resident Filipinos. Typhoon Haiyan was one of the deadliest in Philippine history, killing more than 6,000 people.

Overseas Filipinos in other parts of Asia have also raised funds for Typhoon Vamco relief efforts. In Taiwan, where more than 157,000 Filipinos work, international Philippine organisation CIASI has called for monetary donations, in addition to clothing and dried goods. A Filipino woman has also raised US$1,400 in donations for survivors of the typhoon, which killed at least 67 people.

03:02

Typhoon Vamco, the Philippines’ deadliest of the year, kills at least 67 before reaching Vietnam

The Paluto Sa SG group on Facebook was started by Filipinos Darwin Salonga and Nikko Canafranca with close friends to create an online marketplace to buy and sell traditional Filipino meals in Singapore. The group has also been sending supplies to hard-hit provinces in the Philippines.

It has 27,000 members who have provided donations of S$9,000 to send 2,650 relief packs containing noodles, canned goods, rice, blankets, clothing, bottled drinking water and ready-to-eat meals to the provinces of Cagayan, Isabela, and Rizal.

Salonga said he believed overseas Filipinos donated despite their own personal financial woes caused by the coronavirus pandemic, as many had relatives still living in areas affected by the typhoon.

“It’s our culture to help one another in these challenging times. The members of the group trust that we will be able to offer help to the survivors,” said the 30-year-old information technology professional. “Their trust makes us determined to reach more areas that need help.”

The group faces a greater task in delivering the aid to the affected areas in the Philippines, which are notoriously difficult to reach.

Salonga and Canafranca are looking to coordinate the gruelling task of transporting thousands of relief goods to the towns of Sta. Maria, Isabela, and Enrile, Cagayan, where houses are still submerged by flooding.

“We partnered with United Hands in the Philippines, as they handle the operations on the ground. They as much as us want to bring food and medication to these people,” Salonga said.

“We want to do our part as much as we can, and we don’t want to only depend on the government to help the survivors.”

Glinise Singh, a Filipino homemaker in Singapore, has also raised funds for survivors of the Cagayan floods. Her daughter’s initiative with college friends to provide much-needed necessities to the province inspired her to reach out to family and friends for donations.

Darwin Salonga and Nikko Canafranca, who started a Facebook group in Singapore to help the victims of Typhoon Vamco. Photo: Marielle Descalsota

Singh’s persistence to support her daughter is motivated by the distance between them. While she lives in Singapore, her daughter studies at a university in Manila.

“I’m heartened that these college kids have the compassion,” said Singh, who is married to a Singaporean. “I’ve never organised a fundraiser before. My daughter’s selflessness influenced me to take the first step.”

The 37-year-old said she was resolved to helping as many as 100 families in Cagayan who lacked government assistance.

“Cagayan is such a huge area, and the people need a lot of resources to recover. The government’s response was insufficient and too late,” she said.

“When looking at the photos of people we’ve helped, I can see that they are still smiling. But I can also see the pain in their eyes.

“I hope that the local response to those who need aid the most will be better in the future.”

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