Letter from Dr. Cecil Espina to Mr. Ramesh Subramaniam, National President of the Sathya Sai International Organisation regarding the aid to the needy in the island province in Biliran – Dated November 24th 2013.
Dear Mr. Ramesh Subramaniam,
Greetings! First of all, let me thank you and the SRI SATHYA SAI ORGANIZATION for the generous aid for the island province of Biliran which was affected during typhoon Yolanda.
We received your 351 family packs and together with the other donations , were loaded in a 20 footer container and shipped to Cebu via Gothong Lines on Saturday Nov16. The shipment arrived Cebu on Monday Nov. 18 and arrived in Biliran last night on board a barge.
I will be back in Biliran on Thursday to personally supervise the distribution of the donated relief goods.
Although Biliran was not as devastated as the other parts of Eastern Visayas (especially Tacloban, Guiuan, Ormoc), Typhoon Yolanda left us with considerable damage. As of November 21, 2013, the provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council(PDRRMC) have reported 22,210 families/ 97,378 persons affected in the province.
As of this time, there still is no electricity in the whole province. Globe telecommunications started repair of the damaged antenna. Water supply in the province is abundant. There is however scarcity of food in the local markets and in the grocery stores. We used to get out stocks from Tacloban and Ormoc , both of which were badly inundated by the typhoon. Now, stocks have to be obtained from Cebu even though it takes a long time to transport these goods. Gasoline and other petroleum products are also limited. People line up in gasoline stations to buy their needs.
Nevertheless, Biliranons have started rebuilding their damaged houses, all families in the evacuation centres have gone back to their homes or to where their homes used to be. The local and provincial government are helping the affected families to rebuild their lives.
Please extend our gratitude to SRI SATHYA SAI, its officers and members for choosing Biliran as your beneficiary and trusting us to distribute the goods on your behalf to the affected Biliranons.
Sincerely,
Dr. Cecil Espina