20 November 2013 - The Swiss National Day of Solidarity with the Philippines was held on  November 18 across Switzerland.

The telethon, which aimed to help raise donations for the victims of typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), was organized by Swiss Solidarity, a foundation that raises funds for humanitarian relief and rehabilitation projects, in cooperation with Swiss public radio and TV. 

The event, which lasted from 6 o’clock in the morning until midnight, gathered pledges of donations worth 9,025,989 Swiss francs (CHF), bringing the running total of donations funnelled through Swiss Solidarity to more than CHF 16 million or Php 763,446,720.00.  

In Berne, the telethon was held at the Swiss TV and Radio station SRF. The opening was attended by Swiss Confederation President Ueli Maurer, Philippine Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein Leslie Baja, Mr Walter Rüegg, President of Swiss Public Broadcasting Organization, and Swiss Solidarity Managing Director Tony Burgener.

President Maurer himself took three calls from donors and gave interviews to the Swiss media on the assistance extended by Switzerland to the victims of typhoon Yolanda. Ambassador Baja likewise expressed this gratitude to the Swiss people for their assistance in the interviews he had that day.

The event showed that the traditional bayanihan spirit is also very much alive in Switzerland, not just among the members of the Filipino community who also organized fundraising activities for the typhoon victims, but also among the Swiss who worked hand-in-hand with Filipinos across the country in making the event a success. Filipinos also actively took part in the telethon by taking calls themselves or providing food for the volunteers.

According to Mr. Burgener, more than 850 volunteers across Switzerland enlisted for the telethon. Of these, more than 100 were deployed at a given time to receive calls from the five telethon centres across the country. END