Tan Yan Kee Aids Typhoon ‘Frank’ Victims In Panay

Officers of the Federation distributing relief goods in Jaro, Iloilo.

The sun was just breaking when the Airbus A320 of Philippine Airlines carrying Dr. Lucio Tan and his group made its final approach to the new Iloilo airport. From the air, what passengers saw was not a pretty sight: large swathes of residential and agricultural land were submerged in mud and deep floodwaters. Just days before, Panay Island – including the whole Province of Iloilo – was battered by typhoon ‘Frank’. 

Dr. Tan, chairman of the Tan Yan Kee Foundation, Inc. and his friends from the Federation of Filipino Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FFCCCI) were in Iloilo on a mission: to help typhoon victims dislocated by raging flood waters.

Inspecting relief goods with Mayor Treñas.

Thousands of families were left homeless while hundreds went missing when raging floodwaters and debris from the mountains of Panay swept through the valley. Even the city proper was not spared; trucks, cars and homes were inundated. It was the worst flooding in Iloilo’s history, said Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas.

  When flood waters subsided, seven bridges were either partially or totally destroyed thus making access to Iloilo’s outlying municipalities more difficult. These areas were the focus of the Hope Caravan Team dispatched by Dr. Tan.

Carrying truckloads of relief goods consisting of rice, noodles, canned food and bottled water, the Hope Caravan team led by Jerry Malmis, Fortune Tobacco manager for Aklan, Iloilo and Antique took alternate routes just to reach the towns of Cabatuan, Maasin and Lambunao. The usual 15-minute trip took more than an hour, as the group had to traverse alternative rough roads to reach towns cut off from the city.  The mayors of these municipalities said Hope Caravan was the first relief team to reach the area since their bridges were damaged. A day after the Hope Caravan team, members of the US Armed Forces finally reached the same site with additional relief goods and other supplies.

The group of Dr. Tan and FFCCCI, meanwhile, proceeded to Jaro, Iloilo to distribute thousands of bags of relief goods to families temporarily housed at the Jaro gymnasium.

Assisted by Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Trenas and the Panay Chapter of FFCCCI  headed by Reynaldo ‘Wilkie’ Navarro, Dr. Tan and FFCCCI president John Tan personally handed over bags of relief goods to about 500 families.

Later, Dr. Tan’s team motored back to the Iloilo airport in Sta. Barbara to meet President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to hand over a P10-million donation to the National Disaster Coordinating Council headed by defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro. The group also turned over 10,000 bags of relief goods to the Department of Social Welfare and Development for distribution to the provinces of Aklan, Antique and Iloilo.

To assist the Philippine National Red Cross, the FFCCCI also donated P1-million for the organization’s humanitarian mission in Panay. The check was turned over to PNRC Chairman Sen. Richard Gordon.

Realizing the extent of damage to Panay Island and the severe shortage of clean drinking water, Dr. Tan ordered the immediate deployment of Agua Vida’s two mobile water filtering stations to Antique and Aklan, provinces which were also badly hit by typhoon Frank.

Thousands of bags of relief goods were also prepared in Iloilo City and delivered by truck to Kalibo, Aklan where thousands of families were evacuated due to heavy flooding which destroyed their homes.

Done under the auspices of Hope Caravan, the disaster relief organization of the Fortune Tobacco Corp. and Tan Yan Kee Foundation, the relief mission in Panay also included some employees of the Lucio Tan Group who sustained damage from the recent calamity.

Emergency loans and cash assistance were also provided to those whose houses were either destroyed or washed away during the typhoon’s onslaught.