BDO remittance arm waives fees for donation to typhoon victims

MANILA, Philippines — BDO Remit, the remittance arm of Sy-led BDO Unibank Inc., has waived remittance fees for donations sent to victims of Super Typhoon Karding to help accelerate the flow of financial assistance to the affected areas in the country.

The remittance company is waiving the service fees for overseas Filipinos who want to donate through BDO Foundation Inc., ABS-CBN Lingkod Kapamilya Foundation Inc., GMA Kapuso Foundation Inc. and Philippine Red Cross until Nov. 30 this year.

With this campaign and the generosity from our kababayans abroad, BDO senior vice president and head of remittance Genie Gloria said BDO Remit hopes to help alleviate the pain somehow of the victims of the natural disaster.

“It is unfortunate that even as Christmas nears, natural calamities are still very much a reality here in the Philippines. Instead of preparing for the holidays, some of us are grieving and picking up the pieces after the onslaught of the super typhoon,” Gloria said.

BDO Remit has subsidiary offices in several countries overseas that can accommodate the sending of donations through these foundations. It has offices in Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Daly City in the USA, Toronto, Canada, and London, UK.

“Hopefully, with this, we can encourage more donations from our overseas Filipinos to help those adversely affected by Karding,” Gloria said.

Super Typhoon Karding ravaged parts of Luzon last Sept. 25 up to early morning the following day, leaving a trail of destruction, including at least 10 dead and more than P3 billon in agricultural damage, in its wake.

Almost 40,000 families were also adversely affected by the typhoon, the 11th tropical cyclone to enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility this year.

The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas sees remittances from overseas Filipino workers growing by four percent to hit record levels this year.

Latest data from the central bank showed personal remittances went up by 2.7 percent to $20.33 billion from January to July compared to $19.78 billion in the same period last year.

Likewise, cash remittances coursed through banks and financial institutions expanded by 2.8 percent to $18.26 billion from $17.77 billion in the same period last year.