The Philippine Embassy in the UAE and the Emirates Red Crescent (ERC) have successfully packed over 1,500 boxes for affected families of the Taal volcano eruption through the help of around 300 Filipino and Emirati volunteers.
Philippine Ambassador to the UAE, H.E. Hjayceelyn Quintana and Emirates Red Crescent Dubai Manager Mohammed Abdullah Al Haj Al Zaroni led the one-day aid drive that took place at ERC warehouse located at Al Qouz in Dubai last Saturday, January 25.
Ambassador Quintana thanked ERC for their kind gesture and initiative to help over 200,000 displaced families who were heavily affected by the ash fall and eruption of the Taal volcano.
“I’m very, very grateful to the Emirates Red Crescent for doing this for the Philippines. We feel the concern and love of the Emirati people for the victims of the eruption of Taal Volcano. I am very happy today that they have organized this volunteer day where we can all come together – the Filipino community and the Emirati community doing this UAE for Philippines initiative. This is really a great way to show the friendship between the two countries,” said Quintana.
Volunteers of all ages coming from different parts of the UAE flocked towards the ERC warehouse and with a huge number of volunteers complemented with an efficient flow of operations spearheaded by the ERC, the volunteers managed to finish packing boxes as early as 2:30 pm.
Ambassador Quintana assured that the Philippines’ partnership with the ERC will go beyond times of crisis as Filipinos would be ready to help the UAE’s diverse, multicultural citizens in their time of need as well.
“Shukran Jazeelan for the leaders of UAE government for this wonderful initiative. And we will all be doing this not just doing times of crisis but also as a long term relationship with the Emirates Red Crescent – that every time we can be proactive and we can come here to volunteer not just for the Philippines but for every humanitarian project that we can work together on, we will be here. Thank you for showing that you care and that the friendship is strong between our peoples. Maraming salamat po!,” said Quintana.
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The Philippine Institute for Volcanology and Seismology has since downgraded the alert level of Taal volcano to alert level 3 – with families from Agoncillo and Laurel yet to head back to their homes.
