MANILA (UCAN): Catholic students in the Philippines started a fundraising drive to help more than 50 Palestinian refugees temporarily housed at the University of the Philippines as government aid was scheduled to end on December 21. Students from the university and civil society groups launched separate campaigns to aid the Palestinians.
The Palestinians, married to Filipino nationals, fled their country after war broke out on October 7. They arrived under a government programme and were accommodated in the University of the Philippines in Quezon City in the capital Manila.
“We were told to leave, starting December 21, Amir Halevi, explained.
“Our accommodation was paid only up to December 21. Thus, we need a place to stay … we have no jobs, no money to pay for our housing,” said the father of two who is married to a Filipino nurse.
“Each family needs almost PHP20,000 [US$364] per month to survive. If they do not have any work and the government has cut the aid. We are afraid they will end up in the street,” Adelaide Sebastian, a social worker based in Quezon City, pointed out.
Halevi, a nurse by profession, was able to escape Gaza when the Philippines’ Foreign Affairs Department offered help.”
“I was so worried about my children, since both of them are girls. They might have been used as human shields,” he said, adding, “I decided to come to the Philippines as my wife told me about the Philippine government’s repatriation efforts.”
In Gaza, Halevi and his family were living in a condominium which was later occupied by Hamas and curbed their movements. He was working with a private medical facility in Kibbutz Be’eri near the Gaza Strip.
When they came to the Philippines, they were given US$1,361 by the government and were promised more aid.
As we celebrate the 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines. The Chaplaincy to Filipino Migrants organises an on-line talk every Tuesday at 9.00pm. You can join us at:
https://www.Facebook.com/CFM-Gifted-to-give-101039001847033
Cristine, Halevi’s wife, is planning to knock on the doors of relatives.
“I do not know what to do. Perhaps I will call my relatives in Mindanao to help us … but I still don’t have a job, nor does my husband,” Cristine said.
“We will boost our campaign with the ‘giving tree’ drive during the Christmas season in the university,” said Kiko Polinar, who acts as vice-president of the University of Philippines Student Catholic Action.
I am sure we can collect money for them,” Polinar said.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, has also promised help. The Diocese of Cubao diocese in Quezon City has started collecting donations during Mass at several parishes.
“We will meet in the coming days” to help them, assured Bishop Narciso Abellana, chair of the bishops’ commission on Migrants and Itinerant People.
