Ernie Lopez, Sagip Kapamilya Bring Aid to Typhoon Odette Survivors
“G Diaries” host Ernie Lopez, together with the Sagip Kapamilya team, recently travelled to remote islands in Bohol and Cebu to aid families who have not yet recovered from the devastation brought about by Typhoon Odette.
“G Diaries” documented the journey and first-person account of Ernie, who is also the director for advocacy of ABS-CBN Foundation, in a three-episode special TV series entitled “Operation Odette: Isang Daan sa Pagtutulungan” which commences this Sunday (March 6).
Typhoon Odette, which hit the Philippines last December 16, 2021, is considered the second most destructive typhoon in recent history after Typhoon Yolanda in 2013. It has affected 1.4 million Filipinos and left Php 40.8 billion in damages in agriculture, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
Ernie witnessed that after three months, some island communities in Bohol still have no electricity and water. Many residents are still jobless and homeless as they could not afford to repair their shattered houses.
Together with Ernie, Sagip Kapamilya, the emergency humanitarian response program of ABS-CBN Foundation, distributed home repair kits to 300 families in Loon, Bohol. The repair kits contained plywood, G.I. sheets, nails and other construction materials. Lopez even volunteered to help the carpenters in installing some of the walls and roofs.
From the time ABS-CBN and ABS-CBN Foundation launched Operation Odette, Sagip Kapamilya has already distributed relief packs to at least 203,110 families from cash and in-kind donations of sponsors and donors, as of this writing.
However, Earl Bacabac, program head of Sagip Kapamilya shared that so much work still needs to be done as many families are still homeless, jobless and lacking in food.
It is the hope of ABS-CBN Foundation that through this three-part TV special in “G Diaries,” they can create more awareness on the present condition of the affected areas and raise more resources for the affected communities.
Catch “G Diaries” on Kapamilya Channel at 9 am and Kapamilya Online Live at 8:30 am on Sundays.