The storm blew out yesterday but not before leaving more than 650 people dead and more than 800 missing.
The storm blew out yesterday but not before leaving more than 650 people dead and more than 800 missing.

Filipinos rally for storm victims



ABU DHABI // Many Filipinos in the UAE have set aside Christmas preparations to plan fund-raisers for flood victims back home.

The tropical storm Washi, known locally as Sendong, battered Cagayan de Oro, Iligan City and other parts of Mindanao in the early hours of Saturday.

The storm blew out yesterday but not before leaving more than 650 people dead and more than 800 missing.

In Cagayan de Oro, a city of more than 500,000 people, unidentified bodies are piled up in morgues. Electricity has been restored in some areas but the city remained without tap water yesterday.

Cornelio Nambatac, 39, an Abu Dhabi Government employee from Cagayan de Oro, said his three sisters, their husbands, four nieces and a nephew had to climb on to the roof of their two-storey home at 2am on Saturday.

"I felt so helpless after receiving a text message from one of my sisters," Mr Nambatac said. "They were on the rooftop for almost four hours to escape the flood."

Floodwaters smashed through their front door and engulfed the first and second floors. They did not have any electricity, water or food until late in the afternoon.

"I got worried when I couldn't contact my sister," Mr Nambatac said. "But I was relieved later after learning that they were all safe."

Last night the committee of Bayanihan UAE, the umbrella group for Filipinos in Abu Dhabi, met to discuss its response.

"Many are aware of the situation and are willing to help," said Bal Junio, 42, the group's president. "I'm proposing that we donate a portion of the Bayanihan's funds to the victims."

The group will raise more money from members and are planning another fund-raiser at a Christmas event on Friday.

FilCom, the Filipino umbrella group in Dubai and the Northern Emirates, has formed an emergency-response team.

"Relief efforts should be immediate," said Alan Bacason, who heads FilCom's governing council. "I've asked the governing council members to join me as volunteers."

Mr Bacason and other community leaders last night discussed how to co-ordinate with other organisations assisting in the relief work.

In October, bureaucratic hold-ups prevented FilCom from sending cash donations for victims of three typhoons.

Although some people and groups in Dubai managed to send cash and boxes of relief goods to Manila, FilCom was unable to launch a fund-raiser.

Fund-raising needed to be cleared by the Philippine consulate, and then approved by the UAE Red Crescent Authority.

But FilCom was unable to obtain a written authorisation from the foreign affairs department in Manila.

This time, pledges and cash donations from 99 community groups will be collected and sent directly to the Philippine Red Cross or a selected non-government organisation.

Anyone who wishes to contribute can also drop food, blankets and clothing at the Philippine overseas labour office in Al Ghusais.

James Dilawangun, 43, an administrative officer at Al Ghurair University in Dubai, said his wife's relatives had been badly affected by the storm.

"Her cousin's house was among those that was swept away," Mr Dilawangun said.

His wife Nanette, 41, was at the family's flat in Iligan, a city where she said some 300 victims, mostly children and women, were swept away as they slept.

Mrs Dilawangun's cousin Ali Mindalano, 46, died, leaving behind seven children.

The house of her nephew Kamaludin Buntalis, 41, who has five children, was swept away.

"They could not get out of their homes," Mrs Dilawangun said. "The floodwaters were waist-high and those who survived were forced to climb on to their rooftops."

From Iligan, she travelled on Saturday to Marawi City where the family lives.

"My cousin's body was recovered today," Mrs Dilawangun said. "We also learnt that one of our aunts is alive and well."

But she said hundreds of thousands of others badly needed help.

Grace Princesa, the Philippine ambassador, said she was confident that Filipinos here would answer the call for help.

"The Bayanihan council here in Abu Dhabi has a calamity and disaster committee, so we are ready and proactive when all these calamities happen in our country," Ms Princesa said.

"The Bayanihan spirit was evident when the community helped the victims of [this year's typhoons]."

"Bayanihan" is derived from two Filipino words: bayani, meaning hero, and bayan, meaning nation.

In a wider sense, it refers to helping people in times of need and the spirit of leadership, volunteerism and unity.

The%20US%20Congress%20explained
%3Cp%3E-%20Congress%20is%20one%20of%20three%20branches%20of%20the%20US%20government%2C%20and%20the%20one%20that%20creates%20the%20nation's%20federal%20laws%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E-%20Congress%20is%20divided%20into%20two%20chambers%3A%20The%20House%20of%20Representatives%20and%20the%20Senate%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E-%C2%A0The%20House%20is%20made%20up%20of%20435%20members%20based%20on%20a%20state's%20population.%20House%20members%20are%20up%20for%20election%20every%20two%20years%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E-%20A%20bill%20must%20be%20approved%20by%20both%20the%20House%20and%20Senate%20before%20it%20goes%20to%20the%20president's%20desk%20for%20signature%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E-%20A%20political%20party%20needs%20218%20seats%20to%20be%20in%20control%20of%20the%20House%20of%20Representatives%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E-%20The%20Senate%20is%20comprised%20of%20100%20members%2C%20with%20each%20state%20receiving%20two%20senators.%20Senate%20members%20serve%20six-year%20terms%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E-%20A%20political%20party%20needs%2051%20seats%20to%20control%20the%20Senate.%20In%20the%20case%20of%20a%2050-50%20tie%2C%20the%20party%20of%20the%20president%20controls%20the%20Senate%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The specs

Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8

Transmission: seven-speed

Power: 620bhp

Torque: 760Nm

Price: Dh898,000

On sale: now

More from Armen Sarkissian
Tuesday's fixtures
Group A
Kyrgyzstan v Qatar, 5.45pm
Iran v Uzbekistan, 8pm
N Korea v UAE, 10.15pm
Specs

Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
On sale: Available for pre-order now
Price: On request

What is graphene?

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.

It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.

Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.

By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.

It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.

But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties. 

 

Emirates Cricket Board Women’s T10

ECB Hawks v ECB Falcons

Monday, April 6, 7.30pm, Sharjah Cricket Stadium

The match will be broadcast live on the My Sports Eye Facebook page

 

Hawks

Coach: Chaitrali Kalgutkar

Squad: Chaya Mughal (captain), Archara Supriya, Chamani Senevirathne, Chathurika Anand, Geethika Jyothis, Indhuja Nandakumar, Kashish Loungani, Khushi Sharma, Khushi Tanwar, Rinitha Rajith, Siddhi Pagarani, Siya Gokhale, Subha Srinivasan, Suraksha Kotte, Theertha Satish

 

Falcons

Coach: Najeeb Amar

Squad: Kavisha Kumari (captain), Almaseera Jahangir, Annika Shivpuri, Archisha Mukherjee, Judit Cleetus, Ishani Senavirathne, Lavanya Keny, Mahika Gaur, Malavika Unnithan, Rishitha Rajith, Rithika Rajith, Samaira Dharnidharka, Shashini Kaluarachchi, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi, Vaishnave Mahesh

 

 

Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458. 

Zakat definitions

Zakat: an Arabic word meaning ‘to cleanse’ or ‘purification’.

Nisab: the minimum amount that a Muslim must have before being obliged to pay zakat. Traditionally, the nisab threshold was 87.48 grams of gold, or 612.36 grams of silver. The monetary value of the nisab therefore varies by current prices and currencies.

Zakat Al Mal: the ‘cleansing’ of wealth, as one of the five pillars of Islam; a spiritual duty for all Muslims meeting the ‘nisab’ wealth criteria in a lunar year, to pay 2.5 per cent of their wealth in alms to the deserving and needy.

Zakat Al Fitr: a donation to charity given during Ramadan, before Eid Al Fitr, in the form of food. Every adult Muslim who possesses food in excess of the needs of themselves and their family must pay two qadahs (an old measure just over 2 kilograms) of flour, wheat, barley or rice from each person in a household, as a minimum.