It has been exactly three months after the devastating super typhoon “Haiyan” or “Yolanda” hit and severely affected the lives of some of my fellow countrymen here in the Philippines. I can still remember that it was our IELTS examination day. It was a day where we were thinking if the examination will be cancelled or not since the typhoon made its extra-ordinary land fall in the Visayas region around 4:40am (November 8, 2013).
The city of Manila was not hit that much since the battered regions are many kilometers away. The Philippines is an archipelago of 7,107 islands and it is very known that water is everywhere. The country is so used to welcoming 20-22 typhoons every year but the mother earth was a little unprecedented that day. It made the Visayas region braced so hard because it was going to smashed the areas real hard.
At 2040 GMT on Friday, exactly three months after the typhoon struck, the #PHthankyou billboard signs went up in New York's Times Square, London's Piccadilly Circus and six other locations. Posts from Hollywood artists, international musicians and sportsmen also appeared on social media. (Courtesy: International celebrities express sympathy for Yolanda victims)
In its #PHthankyou campaign, the DOT said: “We are Filipinos. We are resilient, grateful, and fun-loving people. And that's why even as we are still recovering, we already want to show our thanks."
Three Months after Haiyan - #PHthankyou
Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez said that at Saturday midnight, the country also had ad billboards simultaneously go up in other countries for #PHthankyou:
• Times Square in New York
• Galeries Lafayette in Paris
• Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo
• Piccadilly Circus in London
• Ion on Orchard Road, Singapore
• Sydney, Australia
• Berlin, Germany
• Toronto, Canada
• Seoul, South Korea
A super typhoon thought to be the most powerful ever to hit land battered the central Philippines, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate the affected areas and it left around 6,000 dead and with 1,800 still missing.
More people were made homeless than by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. A total of 14 million people were affected, six million workers lost their sources of income, 30,000 boats were destroyed and millions of coconut trees were damaged or flattened.
"The Philippines wants to say a big thank you to everyone who are helping us rebuild after Typhoon Haiyan," the tourism ministry said in a statement to mark its #PHthankyou campaign.
"The world has been one with the Philippines in helping rebuild the nation."
This is a sincere way of the Filipino people in thanking all the NATIONS and ORGANIZATIONS, and even the smallest of kind of people who have extended their support, prayer, love, and care for the typhoon victims. They have helped a lot and are still continuously reaching out to the affected. We all know from the Philippines that saying thank you is not enough to extend our gratitude but it is only GOD who can return the favor to everyone for helping the needy.
May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” - Ruth 2:12
May the Lord repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the Lord, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” - Ruth 2:12
THANK YOU in different languages
@1:31 - We are lifted (our spirits are lifted) because of your kindness.
@1:38 - We are really grateful
@1:46 - We will rise
@1:51 - Because of your support
@1:54 - We are going to rebuild our nation
a one-minute video showing how grateful the Filipino people are.. :)
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| Times Square, New York, USA |
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| Piccadilly Circus, London,UK |
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| Tokyo, Japan |
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| Toronto, Canada |
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| Galeries Lafayette, Paris, France |
