PBA extends helping hand to victims of Taal eruption

PBA Commissioner Willie Marcial. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/TRISTAN TAMAYO

MANILA, Philippines—The PBA will extend its helping hand to the survivors of the Taal Volcano eruption.

Commissioner Willie Marcial said the league will donate P1 million to those affected by the volcanic eruption and will hand out the check to one of the staff members of Gov. Hermillando Mandanas on Friday before the start of Game 5 of the PBA Governors’ Cup finals at Mall of Asia Arena.

Marcial also asked some help from the 12 team governors of the league and all of the officials were eager to help the survivors.

“We invited Gov. Mandanas, who’s our family friend, to come by but he’s busy taking care of his constituents in Batangas so we’ll give the check to one of his staff members,” said Marcial in Filipino Thursday.

Apart from the financial aid, the league will also donate a few hundred pairs of slippers.

Batangas City Sports Center where the PBA holds its out-of-town games in the province is serving as one of the evacuation sites for the survivors.

“The stadium is full, and that is the stadium where we play our games, so we’ll do what we can to help those in need,” said Marcial.

As per the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, a total of 12,877 families or 57,286 people are taking temporary shelter across 257 evacuation centers.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology maintained Alert Level 4 status on Taal Volcano with a hazardous eruption imminent and have strongly advised the people residing within the 14-kilometer radius danger zone to evacuate immediately.