The Gokongwei Group, through the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF), and its employees reached out to help thousands of victims of Typhoon Odette even though they themselves had also suffered damages.
When the typhoon ravaged the country just a few days before Christmas, the Group’s employees immediately organized themselves to extend help to those who have been adversely impacted by the calamity.
In the true spirit of “bayanihan,” the Gokongwei Group, through its family foundation GBF, immediately set out with a disaster relief response to aid the victims of the super typhoon.
“All the more given the unfortunate timing of the typhoon during the holiday season, we respond with compassion and sacrifice to ensure that those in need are given much-needed assistance,” said JG Summit Holdings President Lance Y. Gokongwei.
GBF is committed to uplifting the lives of the communities where the Gokongwei Group businesses operate.
One major thrust of this initiative, aside from education, is to help Filipinos attain resilience in times of calamities and disasters by providing relief and rehabilitation efforts such as in the recent events like the Taal volcano eruption and the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Even though various Gokongwei Group businesses in the Visayas and Mindanao regions have been severely affected by the typhoon, they readily participated in GBF’s disaster relief efforts.
Immediately, employees across the Gokongwei Group provided support through donations, foregoing holiday celebrations, and instead pouring funds into relief goods, as well as through volunteerism efforts.
To date, over 19,000 beneficiaries from the various communities where the Gokongwei Group businesses operate have received aid through this partnership.
This is on top of the relief goods that have been provided to almost 12,500 of their workers affected by the typhoon.
Leveraging on the on-ground presence of business units such as Robinsons Land, Universal Robina Corporation, Cebu Pacific, Robinsons Bank, and Robinsons Retail, the relief distribution efforts have reached affected communities in key locations in the provinces of Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Bohol, Palawan, Capiz, Antique, Iloilo, and the cities of Cebu, Lapu Lapu, Surigao, and Butuan City, in cooperation with local government units (LGU).
Delivery of the much-needed relief goods was provided by Cebu Pacific (CEB), supplemented by the logistical support of 2GO, the Philippine Airforce Civil Aviation Group, and the Philippine Navy.
GBF’s synergy with the various business units of the Gokongwei Group in efficiently organizing and mobilizing assistance has also inspired collaboration and support from external partners such as Shang Properties, Inc., through its charitable coordinating body Kerry Group Philippines Foundation, Inc. (KGPFI).
Through the support of GBF and KGPFI, as well as RLC in collaboration with SM Foundation through its logistics arm 2GO, some 8,000 packs of relief goods were turned over to Cebu.
The goods comprised of essentials such as canned food, noodles, rice, coffee, snacks, and medicine.
As no clear end is yet in sight to the complete recovery of the communities affected by Typhoon Odette, the relief and rehabilitation efforts remain continuous.
“The spirit of 'bayanihan' is important now more than ever during difficult times as these,” said Gokongwei.