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| SEAIR RELIEF TO BATANES |
| SEAIR brings relief goods to Batanes ___________________ |
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| SEAIR PRESS RELEASE abs-cbnNEWS.com 10/09/2009 (9:24 PM) |
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| THE METRO MANILA FLOOD OF 2009 |
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| MARIKINA CITY (Shoe Capital of the Philippines) UNDER WATER |
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| MANILA (Capital City of the Philippines) UNDER WATER |
| Southeast Asian Airlines (SEAIR) brought relief goods and basic commodities to Batanes in response to the food shortage in the province. Food supplies declined at an alarming rate when Typhoon "Pepeng" stopped cargo planes and ships from delivering provisions to the island. :SEAIR, in cooperation with the provincial governor of Batanes and the Ateneo Professional Schools, is launching special cargo flights to transport much-needed supplies to our northernmost province," said Avelino Zapanta, SEAIR president. The added flights are also carrying relief packs containing rice, canned goods, powdered milk, sugar, noodles and biscuits. ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ The airline also announced that it will continue accepting donations for Typhoon Ondoy flood victims as well as aid for the Batanes food shortage until October 16. Zapanta said contributions in kind or in cash will be accepted and duly acknowledged by SEAIR from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Mondays and Saturdays. The following venues receiving donations are: SEAIR ticketing office, Room 202 Lao' Center Building, 1000 Arnaiz Avenue (formerly Pasay Road) corner Makati Avenue, Makati City; SEAIR Domestic Airport office, Terminal 1, NAIA, Pasay City; SEAIR Cebu office, Door # 3 YMCA Building, Jones Avenue, Cebu City: SEAIR SM Clark, Unit 166 SM City CSEZ, Clarkfield, Pampanga; and SEAIR Caticlan, Caticlan Airport. For more information on how you can help, please contact SEAIR Call Center at 849-01100. Some 1,772 families in Batanes were affected by Typhoon Pepeng and the food shortage. This is composed of 311 families from Uyugan, 214 from Itbud, 122 from Imnajbu, 149 from Ivana, 64 from Mahatao, 162 from Basco, 320 from Sabtang and 430 from Itbayat. SEAIR is also participating in a food distribution program to provide thousands of flood victims in Marikina and Tanay, Rizal with fresh hot meals. (SEAIR press release, October 9, 2009) ___________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________ Bad weather isolated Batanes for 3 weeks abs-cbnNEWS.com | 10/10/2009 5:45 PM MANILA - The shortage of food and other basic commodities is now a major concern of thousands of residents of Batanes. Batanes Gov. Telesforo Castillejos said the province was isolated for three weeks as tropical storm Ondoy and tropical depression Pepeng hit a large part of Luzon, including Metro Manila. The two weather disturbances made Batanes inaccessible to sea and air travel, Castillejos said. "Yesterday, the US Marines delivered relief goods from Sagip Kapamilya. That was a big relief for the province because we have been isolated for the past three weeks because of the inclement weather," Castillejos said. Castillejos said commercial flights only started coming in on Saturday with improved weather. "Today we now have flights of the SEAIR and the other small airlines. So we are now accessible as of today (Saturday)," the governor told ANC television. The official was thankful to ABS-CBN for the humanitarian supply from Sagip Kapamilya that arrived in the province on Friday. "That can last for at least three days," he said. We are fortunate that we still have medicine in the public hospitals and we can still manage as far as medicine is concerned." The immediate needs of the residents, he said, include infant milk and food. "We are also coordinating with the chamber of commerce, they are starting to charter a private airplane to bring in the much needed commodities," Castillejos said. No floods, landslides He said the local government's early preparation for the two tropical storms saved the province from disaster. "What we did was more of a preemptive evacuation activity. Out of the 4,900 families that we have in the entire province, 70 percent were prepared for an eventuality," Castillejos said. He said the remaining 30 percent belong to the "affluent sector and they have sufficient food and they have stored their food and these are the people who can afford to stock goods for themselves for any eventuality." Castillejos said there were no flooded areas in the province and there were no incidents of landslides. "Our biggest fear is the strong winds, and it's good that we were not hit directly by typhoon Pepeng and Ondoy," he said. (As of 10/10/2009 6:28 PM) |
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