Taking Advantage of Typhoon Ondoy: Degrees of Badness
By Rico, 7:07 am Mon Oct 5 2009 - Editorial - 3 Opinions
The cynic in me knows that politicians, companies, and websites are taking advantage of Typhoon Ondoy’s destruction to get their name out. That’s natural, to be honest, but I think the line should be drawn at increasing the suffering of other people.
The-Not-Necessarily Bad
Nokia Philippines publicizes its relief efforts. Here’s the PR:
Nokia connects in time of need
Nokia has answered the call to helping those displaced by Typhoon Ondoy to contact their families or friends by deploying 150 mobile phones to different evacuation centers in calamity -stricken areas in Metro Manila. “Nokia is glad to provide assistance to Filipinos,” says Benoit Nalin, General Manager, Nokia Philippines. “Now, people can easily get in touch with their loved ones in areas affected by the typhoon for free by texting or calling them through Nokia mobile phones powered by Globe Telecom, Smart Telecommunications, and PLDT.” Nokia charging stations will also be stationed in evacuation centers for Nokia users to charge their mobile phones.
Nokia employees will extend more help by distributing P10M worth of relief goods. The joint relief operation will also be done in cooperation with the Philippine National Red Cross and ABS CBN Foundation – SAGIP Kapamilya which will jointly distribute other food packs and medicine to the victims.
Yes, Nokia’s using Ondoy as an opportunity to get its brand out. But at least they’re donating time, money, and equipment freely.
Maybe Bad
Seems my “maybe bad” opinion on Island Rose was mistaken. See why
Island Rose promising to donate P100 for each bouquet they sell. Here’s the email forwarded to me by Mark:
Dear Members and Friends,
As you may well know, the Philippines was recently hit by Typhoon Ondoy which left many hurt and homeless. We’d like to do our part by donating part of our income to help those who are in need.
For every dozen of Red Rose Bouquets we sell, Island Rose will match it with a P100 peso donation to the Philippine National Red Cross (until October 15, 2009).
We encourage everyone to help in their own way to alleviate some of the suffering that this typhoon has caused. If you would like to place an independent donation, we encourage you to do so by visiting the Philippine National Red Cross website. Big or small, every donation will help.
Wishing you a life full of lasting relationships.
Sincerely,
Dustin Andaya
Marketing Director
Island Rose
Like Nokia, Island Rose is using Ondoy to get its brand and services out. That isn’t bad in itself, but do they have to base the donation on the amount of business they enjoy?
Really Really Bad
According to Martin Cervantes on Facebook, the handing out of relief goods were delayed because of “protocol”. Apparently, protocol dictated that Philippine National Red Cross Director (PNRC) director Richard Gordon had to make an appearance before volunteers could start handing out goods.
The anecdote, which has since been taken down, detailed how people lining up started venting frustration at having to wait for hours. Worse, when it was clear that Gordon wouldn’t show up, the PNRC staff reportedly asked the elderly and the children to line-up first—ignoring the line already formed.
I’m not sure if the story is true (Cervantes took down the post in the name of “not [creating]… negativity and malign individuals”, and I doubt Richard Gordon wants people who have lost a lot to disaster to wait unnecessarily for relief.
I think this was a case of “protocol” not adapting to the situation: Perhaps some time ago, it was established that the “big guys” should get some media exposure, to make sure people know that they’re doing their jobs. There’s nothing wrong with telling people how you’re helping others, but if you’re adding to the problems of people who’ve already lost a lot, then something has to change.
BrianB
8:08 am Mon Oct 5 2009
Maintaining protocol supposed to ensure we know who to blame: the authorities. Those who heroically break protocol to save lives are laudable but they should also should suffer the proper consequences… kaya nga hero eh, diba?
Doesn’t work like that in this country. Partly, it’s the conditioning… that nothing works to begin with. Also our fundamentally flawed democracy: it’s not real democracy but a paper alibi for the feudalism enjoyed by our voted officials.
Dustin
12:12 am Thu Nov 19 2009
Hello Rico,
My name is Dustin Andaya and I own Island Rose. I read your blog entry and I could not help but write back. I would be pretending if I said did not feel bad about your article.
When the storm happened, I called up my brother (who is also my partner) and asked him if I could do something to help the victims. We are not a large corporation but I thought that there must be something we can do since we were lucky enough to get through the storm.
As you can imagine, sales where tough during the storm but I thought that if I give a fixed part of our net income, I can help without going out of business. So we did it, for every dozen that was ordered, i set aside 100 bucks for the cause. We have a really good membership base so I announced it to my members through the newsletter you posted in your entry.
We were able to raise over P50,000 for the red cross and I look forward to seeing it used for a good cause. I will tell you straight up that giving away almost 10% of your gross income for some of the worst performing days of the year is suicidal for any business but we did it anyway. I heard that a local supermarket was commended for donating P10 for every P500 peso sale. In proportion, we gave almost 5 times that ratio. It was a bad week for the country and a bad week for us in terms of sales – the only thing we felt good about was knowing we could afford to make a donation at a time when people needed it.
Because it came straight from our income, It did not cost our customers a cent more to donate but we named the donation after our valued customers who ordered from us even in our toughest days. If you care to look, here is my blog entry about the fund drive:
http://islandrose.net/blog/2009/10/27/typhoon-ondoy-fund-drive/
Wouldn’t it have been great if everyone could give part of their income to the victims? We could have solved a lot of problems quickly.
We at Island Rose are very happy that we were blessed with the ability to help.
Sincerely,
Dustin
Very Sorry Island Rose!
7:07 am Fri Nov 20 2009
[...] Dustin Andaya left a comment on my original article characterizing Island Rose’s promise to donate P100 to Ondoy victims as “maybe [...]