Following a direct request from the government of Bohol, Mercy Relief (MR) dispatched additional units of its manual-powered water filtration systems, PedalPure to address the water issues across the quake-hit province.  The 7.2 magnitude earthquake which struck Central Visayas last month, caused immense damage and suspension to power grids and water distribution networks, affecting tens of thousands of stranded survivors.

The 700-litre-per-hour system which do not require electricity to pump, is appropriate for use in disaster-stricken and remote areas where power supply is affected or scarce, and is able to fill 466 bottles (1.5litre capacity) with water per hour.

The Singapore-grown humanitarian organisation was also at the municipality of Cortes to deliver its third tranche of relief supplies to more than 320 affected families.  The team personally distributed food packs which included rice, cooking oil and preserved seafood, and hygiene kits to continue addressing the essential survival needs of the victims.  To date, the total amount of aid worth over SGD50,000 through the donations from Cuffz Holdings, Cargill and Rahmatan Lil Alamin has served around 1,000 families across the affected areas of Antequerra, Loon, Sagbayan and Cortes.

MR’s Assistant Director of International Programme, Khairulnizam Massuan, currently on the ground, commented “Whilst the local authorities focuses on the repairs of infrastructure at provincial level, MR assists in addressing the survivors’ needs at community and household levels. This is to allow the government to focus its resources in improving and restoring infrastructures such as roads, bridges, power grids and water networks. NGOs and people organisations can help fill the gaps by attending to the households’ basic needs.”

The 7.2 quake which occurred on the morning of 15th October affected more than three million of the country’s nation across the three provinces of Bohol, Cebu and Siguijor, and over 344,300 people displaced with eighty percent living in evacuation centres and makeshift shelters built in open spaces near their damaged homes. Many are still afraid to return to their homes due to ongoing landslides and aftershocks. As of 3rd November 2013, the death toll has touched 222, and 3198 aftershocks have been recorded.

MR has obtained the permit from the Charities Unit to raise funds for the regional crises from 22 October – November 2013.

 

(left) Bohol’s Governor Edgar M. Chatto testing the filtered water from the PedalPure. (right) Local engineers from Sagbayan municipality receiving the PedalPure.

 

MR’s third batch of relief supplies reaching the devastated municipality of Cortes.

 

Local volunteers and community leaders worked alongside MR’s staff to personally deliver the relief supplies to the affected communities in barangay Loreto in Cortes.

Over the last three weeks, around 1,000 families have benefited from MR’s relief distributions across Bohol.

* MR has been implementing relief and development projects in five areas across the Philippines – Bicol Region, Metro Manila, Mindanao, Zambales and Visayas – continuously since 2006 as part of its disaster risk reduction efforts in line with the Hyogo Framework and AADMER.  Click here to read more on MR in the Philippines.

About Mercy Relief

Mercy Relief is a Singaporean humanitarian organisation which engages in both disaster relief and sustainable development programmes. It was established in 2003 as an independent non-governmental humanitarian charity responding to the human tragedies in Asia. Mercy Relief’s aid programme focuses on providing timely and effective assistance to disaster-stricken communities and has maintained the delivery of emergency aid within 72 hours from the point of appeal for assistance. 

In the past 12 years, Mercy Relief has disbursed over S$32 million in aid across 40 disaster relief and 53 sustainable development initiatives. Mercy Relief has impacted an aggregate of 2 million lives in 24 countries and areas, namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, DPR Korea, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Laos, Lebanon, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal,  Pakistan, Palestine, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam and Yemen.

For more information, you may call us at 6514 6322 or email corporateaffairs@mercyrelief.org

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