Mu Sigma Phi Relief Operations were established in the wake of Typhoon Ondoy, which left countless Filipinos homeless, starving, and ill in an already ailing metropolitan. In the same week of torrential rain and unforgiving floods, Mu brods and sisses offered medical services, material resources, and manpower for the rescue and rehabilitation of hard-hit communities like Muntinlupa.

With the passing of days, the waters receded, only to unveil an unfortunate amalgam of mud, garbage, destruction, sickness, and desolation.

Sec. Cabral praised the on-going efforts of heroic Filipinos to organize programs and schemes to uplift the less fortunate members of our society; she however lamented the duplication and considerable overlap of assistance in some areas, while other sectors remain underserved and ignored. The DSWD hopes to provide centripetal coordination in times like these, so as to better direct help towards the communities that are most in need.

With transportation provided by Chuck Ecarma ΜΣΦ 2013, the Mu Sigma Phi contingent brought to the DSWD office donations of clothes, sleeping mats, pillows, kitchen utensils, and shoes, among others.

The group also offered assistance beyond donations in kind and beyond the devastation of Typhoon Ondoy. One proposal was pitched as a solution to the ever-exponential population growth in the Philippines and the persistent prevalence of “gravida 8’s” among low-income districts. Unbridled population growth has long been a problem in our country, and tragedies such as Typhoon Ondoy are only compounded by cramped urban settings that are safety hazards themselves.

In the meantime, Mu Sigma Phi Relief Operations plod onwards in the here and now of rebuilding lives – from the floodwaters up.

Photos courtesy of Dr. Allen Tria ΜΣΦ 2010.

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