THE Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation’s (PAGCOR) massive relief drive for areas affected by Tropical Storm Kristine has begun in earnest, sending out an initial 5,000 relief packs on October 31 from a total of 53,000 packs it has prepared.
The relief packs were dispatched to hard-hit communities in the Bicol Region, Northern Luzon and CALABARZON, said PAGCOR Chairman and CEO Alejandro Tengco.
“Since October 24, our volunteer teams have been working tirelessly and preparing thousands of relief goods for distribution to flooded communities,” he said.
Tengco added: “Many of the major roads to these areas were not passable at the height of Kristine’s onslaught so we had to wait a bit for the floods to subside, but were able to ship out the first batch of relief items even while the storm was still lashing out parts of the country.”
The City of Lipa in Batangas was the first to receive relief aid from the state gaming agency on the night of October 24, as roads there were already passable. The city government received 2,000 food and non-food packs for distribution to affected locals.
PAGCOR also donated on October 25 a total of 3,000 relief packs to former Vice President Leni Robredo’s Angat Buhay Foundation. The food and non-food items were distributed in Naga City which suffered devastating flash floods after the Bicol River overflowed.
“This is just the start of our massive relief drive for Kristine-hit areas,” Tengco said. Coordination with various local government units and other government agencies like the Office of the Civil Defense is ongoing to ensure the safe and prompt delivery of PAGCOR’s aid to displaced communities.”
The Bicol region alone, which suffered the brunt of the recent tropical storm, will receive over 24,000 food and non-food relief packs from PAGCOR.
The relief goods were distributed to various local government units in Albay, Camarines Sur and Camarines Norte.
The intended recipients of PAGCOR’s relief operation were the provinces of Apayao, La Union, Quezon, Rizal and Ilocos Sur (Vigan City)./PN
