As the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) continues to provide relief assistance to some 217,841 families, as of January 7, from Regions XI and CARAGA who were affected by typhoon ‘Pablo,’ it also encourages the public to participate in the “Text to Help” campaign to raise more funds for the continuing relief and rehabilitation efforts.
The “Text to Help” campaign is a joint initiative of Rappler, a social news network, and telecommunications companies, Globe Telecom, Inc. and Smart Communications. Donations made via text will be remitted to the DSWD local donations account at Land Bank of the Philippines (Batasan branch) with account number 3122-1011-84 and to the foreign donations account also at Land Bank Batasan with account number 3124-0055-81, swift code TLBPPHMMXXX.
For Globe subscribers
1. Sign-up for a G-cash account
2. Type: DONATE <AMOUNT> <MPIN> PABLO
3. Send to 2882
For SMART subscribers
1. Type: PABLO <AMOUNT>
*Subscribers can donate the following amounts: 10, 15, 25, 50, 100, 500, 1000
2. Send to 4483
“There are many people who would like to lend a helping hand and the easiest way to donate even a small amount is through this text campaign,” Secretary Dinky Soliman said. “Relief and recovery efforts for the victims would entail quite a sum. Donations, big or small, will go a long way,” Secretary Soliman added.
The DSWD needs approximately P2.6 billion to sustain the relief distribution until March 2013. Meanwhile, P1.6 billion is needed to implement the cash-for-work (CFW) program from April to June to rehabilitate the 176,617 displaced families and P385.3 million for emergency shelter assistance (ESA) to 38,529 families with partially damaged houses.
The CFW is a rehabilitation program that provides compensation to disaster victims who participate in community development projects like repair of roads and infrastructures. They will be paid 75 percent of the regional minimum daily wage rate or P226.00 for Region XI and P194.00 for CARAGA. The ESA provides P10,000 financial assistance per family with a partially damaged house.
To ensure transparency and accountability, regular posting of donations collected is available at the website http://www.rappler.com/move-ph/campaign/text-to-help. ###
