Serve the People Brigade help victims of Ondoy

Serve the People

Friday, 02 October 2009 15:20

Amid both great calamities and anti-people policies, the tradition of the Iskolar ng Bayan of serving the people prevails.

Typhoon Ondoy left a trail of floods and washed out homes that took the lives and livelihood of most residents of Metro Manila and 25 provinces. These worsen the condition of the already deprived condition of the Filipino society.

As the heavy rains began to stop, UPLB University Student Council, Kabataan Partylist-ST, UPLB Perspective and SAKBAYAN called for the UPLB community through the SERVE THE PEOPLE Brigade-Typhoon Ondoy Relief and Rehabilitation Mission to address the immediate needs of the citizens affected by Typhoon Ondoy, especially the poor communities in the immediate vicinities near UPLB. STP Brigade receives overwhelming support from students, faculty members and employees in UPLB, and also from concerned citizens and youth groups in Laguna.

Student volunteers tapped the immediate community, local government units, UPLB administrators and establishments to gather material and financial support. As of September 30, about 250 volunteers from 86 organizations and individuals volunteered. So far, a total of 520 families from four different areas benefited from the donations of more than 200 donors.

The organizers of this activity extend its highest salutations and heartfelt gratitude to every UPLB student who continuously reaffirms the tradition of the “Iskolar ng Bayan” and to every citizen who lived up to the Filipino spirit of Bayanihan.

However, there is still a lot to be done. At the moment, the focus of post-disaster operations is Metro Manila and some parts of Rizal. We extend our sincerest sympathy to these victims. Conversely, other areas are in need of equal attention. In Calabarzon, such areas that badly needed relief and rehabilitation are the barangays surrounding Laguna Lake, interior municipalities of Rizal, and several municipalities of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Quezon. Because of this, the Serve the People Brigade will continue to enlist volunteers and gather donations (food items, clothes, medicine, vegetable seeds, financial support, etc) to help the most number of victims.

As the Filipino people are continuously being plagued by natural and political calamities, the call and challenge for the Iskolar ng Bayan to live up to our tradition persists. Serve the people!

Town, Province	Barangay	Families Affected
Tanay, Rizal	Santo Niño Santa Inez San Andres Daraitan Mamuyao Tandang Kutyo (Pob.) Laiban	1025
Antipolo, Rizal	San Jose	1000
Gen. Nakar, Quezon	Anoling Banglos Minahan Norte Minahan Sur Magsikap San Marcelino Sablang Maligaya Umiray Lumutan	523
Calamba, Laguna	Tibag Looc Real Sucol Sampiruhan	236
Binan, Laguna	Malaban	507
Batangas	Ambulong, Tanauan City Aya, Talisay	48 51
Mindoro Occidental	Sablayan Rizal San Jose	328
Mindoro Oriental	Roxas Mansalay Bulalacao Victoria San Teodoro Naujan Baco	746

SERVE THE PEOPLE BRIGADE
Typhoon Ondoy Relief and Rehabilitation Mission

You can enlist as volunteers or bring your donations at following physical centers (8am-8pm):

At the front of the Vega Center near UPLB Gate
At the Humanities (CAS Bldg) Lobby
Student Union building Sunken Lobby

You could contact us through the Serve the People Brigade Secretariat c/o Love Carlos at these numbers:
09182810699 or 09273718077

Photos courtesy of Serve the People Brigade


KABATAAN Partylist-Southern Tagalog Serve the People Brigade Reference persons: Press Release: October 2, 2009 Pamela Angelie Pangahas (contact # 09065347747) UP Los Baños, University Student Council Chairperson John Paolo Bautista (contact # 09182810699) Kabataan Partylist Southern, Tagalog Regional Coordinator Youth groups continue relief drive, plan to aid IP typhoon victims As threats of worse devastation from super-typhoon “Pepeng” loom, students, faculty and organizations from Los, Baños, Laguna intensify their relief drive for victims, especially indigenous groups from Southern Tagalog region, who are yet to recover from floods wrought by typhoon “Ondoy”. Serve the People Brigade (STPB), headed by the UP Los Baños University Student Council, Kabataan Partylist Southern Tagalog, UPLB Perspective, and Samahan ng Kabataan para sa Bayan, in cooperation with UPLB organizations, sororities and fraternities, have already extended help to more than 800 families from nearby barangays that local government units have not been able to cover. “We started the relief mission without any resources. But hundreds of students have volunteered in the project and donors poured. The students recognize that their collective efforts mean well in uplifting the conditions of the people”, Pamela Angelie Pangahas, UPLB Student Council chairperson, said. As of Oct. 2, the sixth day of STPB relief mission and rehabilitation program, almost 1,000 families received relief goods and medical assistance from more than 250 donors and 300 volunteers. Starting from scratch, STPB has collected more than P70,000 of financial assistance from business establishments, dormitory residents, and jeepney and bus passengers. Residents still flooded John Paulo Bautista, Kabataan Partlylist Southern Tagalog regional coordinator said the overwhelming support of the people has greatly contributed to the success of the relief drive. He said, however, that more barangays, especially those near Laguna de Bay, are still flooded since last weekend and are projected to last until December. In Brgy. Tadlac alone, around 1,000 families have been flooded, including the elementary school which should have been the residents’ evacuation site. The people settled with staying on their rooftops and set-up tents. Thousands of families in Brgy. Puypoy, Maahas and Mayondon have been affected by Ondoy, where in most cases, family members have fever. Ray of hope for IPs Indigenous people (IPs) from different provinces in Southern Tagalog region until now have not been reached by government support. STPB coordinates with the Southern Tagalog People’s Response Center (STPRC) to extend help to IPs in the region on Oct. 3 and 4. “STPRC would like to launch their relief drive to help those in the cities. But Ondoy has devastated not only homes of IPs but even their civilization,” Bautista added and stressed that Ondoy changed the entire landscape of their communities and forest refuge. Reminiscent of 1972 The STP Brigade is a regional formation established in the 1970’s to help calamity victims in Southern Tagalog. The group also conducts psychosocial relief especially to residents who were traumatized by the disaster. Local residents from Brgy. San Antonio, where 130 families stay in an evacuation canter, recall the great flood of 1972 where the group has given immediate aid back then. One senior citizen upon seeing the group notes that students have not lost their character of compassion to their fellowmen in need. More volunteers from different sectors have taken their free time to join the relief drive. Faculty members and students from the Philippine High School for the Arts have even cancelled classes to volunteer and provided a school bus for ease of distribution of relief goods. “We are still in need of volunteers and donations to cope up with the people’s daily necessities since most of them have no access to supplies,” Bautista said. # Visit us @ www.uplb-usc.com or email us @ usc.uplb@yahoo.com

















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