Globe parent firm donates to Sendong victims

MANILA, Philippines—Corporate aid for victims of storm Sendong continues to pour in with Globe Telecom Inc.’s Singaporean parent firm adding its name in the list of big companies to have donated money for relief efforts.

Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel), in a statement on Wednesday, said it had approved the release of P500,000, which would be coursed through Globe’s corporate social responsibility program.

The donation will be used to provide relief items, including drinking water and medicines, to families affected by the flash floods and landslides that were triggered by the typhoon.

Aileen Tan, SingTel’s group director of Human Resource, said, “We wish to express our condolences for the loss of life and destruction caused by (storm) Sendong.”

“Together with Globe, our regional mobile associate, we hope to play a part in assisting the Filipinos in their recovery efforts,” she said.

SingTel is one of Singapore’s largest mobile network operators. The company also has subsidiaries in several countries in the Asia Pacific region, including Australia.

Globe, which SingTel co-owns with local conglomerate Ayala Corp., was one of the first companies to offer aid to Sendong victims in Northern Mindanao.

The company said it “responded swiftly” to the calamity by offering free call and short messaging service (SMS) or “text” services to victims through several “Libre Tawag” centers.

The company had also set up Internet stations in evacuation centers to help them contact their kin. Globe has pledged approximately “750,000 in-kind while its employees donated P250,000 to fund on-going relief efforts.

Flash floods triggered by Sendong claimed the lives of more than 1,200 people, mostly in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan in Northern Mindanao. Hundreds remained missing as of Wednesday, government officials said.