A helping hand from Turkey has been extended to Tacloban region of Philippines, which has been undergoing the biggest disasters of the past years after it was hit by Typhoon Haifan.

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Three truckloads of aid including 40 tons of rice, five tons of canned food and 1,500 bottles of drinking water, each weighing five liters, and a lot of coffee and pasta will be delivered to 10,000 families in Tacloban.
ÖmerKesmen, an IHH official in Philippines and a member of IHH executive board, said they took immediate action following the typhoon in Philippines and launched work to bring aid to the country after seeing that the situation in the country was worse than they expected.

He said just like people all around the world, Turkish people also have not remained indifferent to the disaster in Philippines.

“We have been carrying out relief efforts in the region since the first day of the disaster. We first launched relief work in Ormoc, the second region which was affected worst by the typhoon and close to Tacloban. We have been carrying out relief work in Tacloban for the past four days. Today, we are delivering the largest amount of aid that came to the region. We will reach out to 10,000 families but this is not sufficient. We are at the side of the people of Philippines. We are sharing the pain of the people of Philippines. In order to heal the wounds of Philippines, we, as the Turkish nation and IHH, will do our best,” he said.

Kesmen said since Philippines is made up of islands, access to these islands is very difficult. He said there are bodies retrieved from rubble even today and there is a grave shortage of food and medicine in the country.

Noting that IHH has launched an aid campaign for Philippines, Kesmen said charity givers can make a donation for Philippines via online donation or bank accounts.

In the meantime, forming long lines to get aid items, Filipino people offered their thanks to Turkish people for their support.