Read this in The Manila Times digital edition.

Philippine Red Cross Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard ‘Dick’ Gordon leads the continued turnover of corrugated galvanized iron sheets, shelter tool kits and cash assistance to victims of Typhoon ‘Odette’ (international name: ‘Rai’). CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

MORE than eight months after Typhoon "Odette" (international name: "Rai") struck the Philippines, the Philippine Red Cross (PRC), in partnership with the American Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, provided cash and emergency shelter assistance to 4,856 families from 19 barangay (villages) in Bohol, Cebu province, and Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu on September 6.

Six hundred seven families received P5,000 cash assistance while 4,249 families were provided corrugated galvanized iron sheets and shelter tool kits worth P9,600. The total value of humanitarian aid distributed amounted to P43.825 million. The distribution was part of the more than P455 million humanitarian and development assistance the PRC has allocated to families affected by Typhoon "Odette" and other calamities that affected Mindanao and the Visayas from December 2021 to September 2022.

"Just like what I said at the start of 2022, we would not forget Typhoon 'Odette.' That's why the Red Cross has been here for families that were severely affected till they were able to recover from the impact of 'Odette.' Just like it continued to say in the Red Cross hymn, 'When the world no longer watches, we do what must be done,'" PRC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Richard "Dick" Gordon said in Filipino.

Other partners of the PRC in these activities were the German Red Cross, the Spanish Red Cross and the European Union. PRC's cash, emergency shelter and livelihood assistance distribution also covered Southern Leyte, Leyte, Palawan, Negros Oriental, Negros Occidental, the Dinagat Islands, Siargao, Surigao del Norte, Maguindanao and Lanao del Sur.