RP's friend in US Congress: 'The House mourns'

Calamity-racked Philippines has friends in the US Congress. On Wednesday (Thursday past midnight in Manila), House Resolution 800 urging the US federal government to support relief operations in the Philippines is scheduled for a vote. California 12th District Rep. Jackie Speier introduced the resolution on October 6, following the deaths and damage to property caused by two consecutive weather disturbances, tropical storm Ondoy (Ketsana) and typhoon Pepeng (Parma), that hit the country in the past weeks. In the US Congress, Speier represents parts of San Francisco, where there has been a strong Filipino presence since the 1920s. About 50,000 Filipinos currently live there. Her district also includes adjacent San Mateo County, where more than 60,000 Filipinos lives, according to the last US census in 2000. “The House of Representatives mourns the terrible loss of life caused by tropical storm Ketsana and typhoon Parma… (and) expresses its deepest condolences to the families of the many victims," read Speier’s resolution, which promptly garnered 39 co-sponsors from both parties in one day’s time. In the resolution, entitled “Expressing sympathy for the citizens of the Philippines dealing with Tropical Storm Ketsana and Typhoon Parma," Speier urged US President Barack Obama to continue supporting relief efforts in the Philippines in terms of logistical, transportation and financial assistance. The resolution also encouraged the US government to work closely with the Philippine government to improve disaster mitigation techniques in the country.

A screenshot of Rep. Jackie Speier's website calling for disaster relief in the Philippines and American Samoa, and support for House Resolution 800. www.speier.house.gov

Speier had earlier made efforts to extend help to victims of the typhoons in the Philippines by posting on her website a list of drop-off points for donations in her congressional district, where the largest community with Filipino ancestry in the US can be found. Filipinos make up the second largest population of Asian descent in the US. Ondoy, which hit the country on September 26, left 337 Filipinos dead and caused over P10-billion worth of damage to agriculture, infrastructure and private property. Pepeng, meanwhile, made three landfalls in northern Luzon in early October, claiming the lives of 375 people and destroying about P8-billion worth of properties. The full text of the resolution can be found on Speier’s website. - Andreo C. Calonzo, GMANews.TV