Asian Journal- The Filipino-American Community Newspaper

AS the founder of the top law firm in the United States practicing immigration and nationality law which holds offices both in the US and in the Philippines, Atty. Robert Reeves has been a witness to the plight of the hardworking Filipino and have been instrumental in helping them fulfill their ultimate "American dream" many times.

Last September 26 at the onslaught of Typhoon Ondoy in several areas in the National Capital Region (NCR), Atty. Reeves witnessed something that broke his heart.

"The suffering that the floods caused to the Filipinos, houses being flooded out and people losing everything important to them—we saw these on TV, and I instantly felt I should do something, and the staff felt the same way," he says.

He and his staff immediately thought of reaching out to those gravely affected by the typhoon, and managed to collect $3,000 (Php141,500) to donate to Philippine National Red Cross Manila Chapter (PNRC Manila Chapter).

"Our heartfelt thoughts go out to these people. We do what we can. Hopefully things will get better, and we won’t get any more severe typhoons," he says.

PNRC Manila Chapter Administrator Crisanta C. Cayetano says,"Atty. Reeves & Associates’ donation will certainly go a long way. Words are not enough to express our sincerest thanks and profound gratitude for their valuable donation."

Crisanta has been with the PNRC for 25 years now, but from her experience, this has been the worst typhoon by far to hit the NCR area. The death toll from the tropical storm has reached to 337 and 287,500 people remain in evacuation centers as of Oct. 9.

In Manila area alone, an estimate of 5,000 families were affected, mostly those who were residents of District 6 in Sta. Ana. Waters have subsided in the area, and people have been able to go back into their homes. Still, Crisanta says the work of PNRC Manila Chapter is not finished yet. Their team went on to help the Rizal chapter, where some areas remain underwater.

"We still accept relief goods and pass them onto other chapters so they could distribute them to the evacuation centers in their areas, especially now that there has been another typhoon, Pepeng, hitting areas in Northern Luzon, affecting thousands yet again," she says.

Crisanta says the number of people who called in as volunteers and the number of donations, both in cash and in kind, their chapter has received has been truly amazing.

On the other hand, Atty. Reeves is amazed as well with how the Filipinos is handling the tragedy which befell them.

"The Filipinos are the most resilient people I have met in my life," he says. "The suffering they go through to immigrate to the United States, families apart for ten years or more before they are finally reunited, it’s amazing how they can smile and hold their head up high," he says.

The Philippine National Red Cross Manila Chapter is still accepting donations. For in kind donations, kindly send to PNRC Manila Chapter, Gen. Luna cor. Victoria St., Intramuros, Manila. For cash donations, kindly deposit to: (for dollar account) Banco de Oro, Port Area, South Harbor Branch, account no. 4530-0736-13 with zip code BNORPHMM; (for peso account) Bank of the Philippine Islands (Savings Account), United Nations, account no. 8111-0020-54.