REELING from the aftermath of Supertyphoon Karding, residents from 14 affected areas received aid through the relief efforts of the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. (Pagcor) and its licensed casinos, a Pagcor statement read.
In a span of two weeks, Pagcor and the charity foundations of its casino licensees already delivered 17,500 relief packs worth P9 million to the provinces of Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Marikina, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Quezon City, Quezon Province, Tarlac and Zambales.
Pagcor’s Vice President for Community Relations and Services Group Ramon Stephen Villaflor said the state-run gaming agency alone already distributed 3,000 food and non-food items to Dingalan, Aurora; Marikina; and General Tinio and San Isidro in Nueva Ecija.
Meanwhile, the most recent donation came from Widus Foundation Inc., (WFI) the charitable arm of Widus Hotel and Casino Clark. The foundation distributed 1,000 packs of food and non-food items to heavily affected residents in San Antonio, Nueva Ecija, last October 12 and 1,500 packs to those in Aurora Province last October 14.
WFI Manager Ronnel Golimlim said they worked closely with Pagcor and LGUs to deliver the goods immediately to the typhoon victims.
Barangay Official Mirna Santos said many houses in the town of San Antonio were wrecked by the strong winds brought by the typhoon.
Another casino licensee that conducted relief efforts operations for Karding victims was the Stotsenberg Leisure Park and Hotel Corp. Its charitable arm Stotsenberg Foundation Inc. donated 2,000 food packs worth P500,000 to affected locals in Victoria, Tarlac and Cabangan, Zambales, the regulator’s statement said.
Also, Royce Hotel and Casino Foundation, the foundation of Royce Hotel and Casino, distributed 1,500 food packs each to Quezon City and Pampanga worth P1.5 million.
Resorts World Philippines Cultural Heritage Foundation Inc., the charitable arm of Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., delivered 3,000 food packs worth P1.5 million to Quezon Province.
In addition, Bridges of Benevolent Initiative Foundation Inc., the charitable arm of Midori Clark Hotel and Casino, donated a sum of 4,000 food packs to Pampanga, Bulacan and Bataan, amounting to P2 million.
Pagcor said it mandates its casino licensees to establish Foundations to help fund corporate social responsibility programs related to education, infrastructure, health facilities, environmental preservation and restoration of cultural heritage.