Selfless acts of giving pour from all over the world to help survivors of Typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng in rebuilding their lives. Through the various international subsidiaries of ABS-CBN Global, overseas Filipinos and even foreign nationals make their sympathies felt by raising funds and sending donations to the Philippines through ABS-CBN Foundation.

As of October 21, 2009, ABS-CBN Foundation in the Philippines has received P63.4 million of cash donations from Global donors.

“Our work is not done yet, far from it. The road to recovery will be long and arduous, but we can all take comfort in the fact that Filipinos, especially in times of crisis, can be relied on to band together to lend a helping hand,” said ABS-CBN Foundation USA President Mitos Santisteban.

As soon as news started to arrive regarding Ondoy, ABS-CBN Foundation USA activated Sagip Kapamilya sa Amerika. Soon, Filipino American communities in the US kicked off their own fundraisers to sustain Sagip Kapamilya’s relief efforts. Efforts include “Ondoy Relief Jam” at Henry’s Restaurant and Lounge, “Everyone’s a Hero” benefit concert in California, a private concert for the Philippine Medical Association (PMA), Martin Nievera’s “For Always” concert in Las Vegas as well as a Red Lantern activity for the Filipino-Chinese community.

ABS-CBN Australia partnered with Forex Australia to help raise funds for the typhoon victims. While in the Middle East, even Bahrain’s Prime Minister, His Highness Shaik Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, donated US$500,000 or roughly PhP25 million pesos for the victims of the recent typhoons. Bahrain’s Ambassador to the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, Yousif Adel Sater, flew to Manila to personally hand over the donation to ABS CBN Foundation.

Sources told ABS CBN Middle East that Shaik Khalifa keeps himself updated on news in the Philippines thru ABS CBN-The Filipino Channel (TFC).

Meanwhile, ABS-CBN Europe and ABS-CBN Japan have successfully secured the confirmation of offshore Philippine banks such as Banco de Oro, Philippine National Bank and Metrobank to waive remittance charges in favor of ABS-CBN Foundation.

This is on top of the efforts exerted by the team of ABS-CBN Easy Remit, which convinced his partners in Ireland, Taiwan, Kuwait, Qatar, KSA and UAE to accept credit-to-account donations. Easy Remit Manila General Manager Raymund Abog was able to tap on the generosity of industry executives who did not only waive their front-end fees but also agreed to pledge their own donation for every remittance transaction.

The tragedy became an opportunity to help and to bond. Everyone whose heart was for the Filipino opened up for those in need. Perhaps, the resilience of the Filipino comes from knowing that there are people who will be there for him, no matter how far apart they are. This is bayanihan, in its global sense.