Thousands of members of an influential Christian group in the
Philippines have walked in a fundraising rally for victims of November's
typhoon. Former footballer and UNICEF ambassador David Beckham also
paid a visit.
Police in Manila said 200,000 people took part in the walk on Saturday
to raise money for survivors of one of the country's worst-ever
typhoons. All those who walked the three kilometers along the capital's
seaside avenue bought special white t-shirts to wear during the march,
with all proceeds being donated to help victims of Typhoon Haiyan.
The walkers were members of the Iglesia ni Cristo (Church of Christ)
which has at least three million members in the largely Catholic nation
of 100 million people. The group's conservative members tend to vote as a
group and are, as a result, politically significant.
It is a hundred days since
Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines
on November 8, killing more than six thousand people and displacing
four million. A million homes were either damaged or destroyed. Many
people are still living in tents and other temporary shelters supplied
by an international humanitarian effort led by the United Nations.
"We cannot afford to be complacent," Luiza Carvalho, the UN coordinator
for the Philippines, said on Saturday. "The need for durable shelter for
millions of people whose homes were damaged or destroyed is critical."
"Millions of livelihoods were similarly destroyed or impaired when the
typhoon tore down or damaged 33 million coconut trees, flooded fields
with saltwater and took away or wrecked 30,000 fishing vessels,"
Carvalho added.
Carvalho also called for more donations to help the survivors. She said
that only 45 percent of the UN's aid appeal for $788 million (575
million euros) launched in December has been raised so far.
Beckham benefit
Former footballer David Beckham paid a two-day visit to typhoon-hit
areas in his role as a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations
Children's Fund (UNICEF). On Friday he played football with children on
the sports field of a ruined school in Tanauan, one of the towns worst
hit by the typhoon. Earlier he had visited a health care center.
“As a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, seeing how children are being given a
sense of normality amidst the rubble of their communities has been
amazing,” Beckham said via a UNICEF blog. “I want to show people around
the world how their generous donations have had an enormous impact on
children and their families and how thankful people here are for their
kindness.”
jm/dr (dpa, AFP)
