6 December 2013 – In the wake of typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), the Philippine Embassy in Cambodia has been stepping up its fundraising efforts and has been receiving donations and offers of support from various sectors including the Host Government and the Catholic Church.

The Cambodian Government coursed its US $100,000 donation through the Embassy on November 17, a testament to the friendship and cooperation between the two countries.

Bishop Olivier Michel Marie Schmitthaeusler, MEP, the Apostolic Vicar of Phnom Penh, reached out to the Catholic community in Cambodia and celebrated a mass with more than 15 other Catholic priests and close to 250 people in attendance to pray for the victims of typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan). The collection from the mass was earmarked for the relief and rebuilding efforts in the Visayas.

The Filipino community in Cambodia has also mobilized fundraising efforts for Yolanda victims, in coordination with the Embassy. A group of Filipino mothers at the International School in Phnom Penh held a fundraising merienda for a cause, while Samahan ng mga Pilipino sa Cambodia (SAMAPI) is organizing a series of fundraising events with the theme JUAN Aid: Rebuilding the Visayas as One for the benefit of the typhoon victims in the Philippines.

The Embassy stepped up its own cash donation drive, opening the Consular Section to walk-in donors who may personally drop their donations into the Embassy’s donation box. Today, a group of over 20 people from the American InterCon Institute and School visited the Embassy to turn over the donations that they received from their students and staff members.

Ambassador Noe Wong hailed these many generous and sincere actions as evidence of the good bilateral relations and abiding amity that exists between Cambodia and the Philippines. He also observed that the Bayanihan spirit of Filipinos in Cambodia persists even if they are far from home. END