During Typhoon Ondoy - Sagip Kapamilya Efforts

Cheryl Cosim originally uploaded by LopezLink

It has been around 2 weeks already after the typhoon Ondoy has battered most of the cities in Metro Manila. I remember how every twitter updates were marked with #ondoy, re-twittering rescue updates and call for donations/volunteers. For a moment I was thankful for how technology could save lives and bring people together. Although, I wished that there was no need for a disaster just for us to show brotherhood as a nation.


Kris Aquino, Fr Tito Caluag, Tina Monzon-Palma and Piolo Pascual originally uploaded by LopezLink

Right now, rarely do I encounter tweets or Facebook updates about the disasters - both Ondoy and Pepeng. I am wondering if it's the Filipino's nature of forgetfullness in action. At one point, everyone was active then as days passed but floods have not receded, people's attentions started to wane.

Fortunately there are still NGO's that have not forgotten. I could only do so much as to remind people personally how people from the north are suffering, some still on their roofs and some buried in landslides. One NGO is Sagip Kapamilya of the Lopez Group where my mom came from. She encouraged me and my sister to join the volunteer efforts during the first few days but surprisingly, thousands of volunteers have emerged before us. My mom said, this is how people react towards an organization they can trust. No offense to the government but many donors would rather hand their donations to Sagip Kapamilya or Red Cross who is equally active in saving people's lives and morales.

Watching the news last night, I was happy to see how ABS-CBN's Sagip Kapamilya has penetrated the north which includes Benguet and Pangasinan to give out relief goods and rescue some flood victims. Hopefully, more people will be inspired with these efforts and not just be active during the peak hours of calamities when everyone is still talking about it.

If you want to know more on how to continue helping and other news from the Lopez Group, become a fan of their Facebook page. You can also join the forum and discuss about Celebrities in Sagip Kapamilya Rescue Operations.