U.S.—In the wake of back-to-back storms Typhoon Kalmaegi (Tino) and Typhoon Fung-Wong (Uwan), Filipinos in the U.S. announced the launch of the Bayanihan Disaster Relief campaign to help communities most-impacted by natural disasters. The campaign is led by the National Alliance for Filipino Concerns (NAFCON)—an alliance of grassroots organizations, non-profits, health professionals, artists, and educators—and Kabataan Alliance (KA), a youth and student alliance.
“We value the lives of the Filipino people, and we will do everything we can to take up the urgent calls for support. That is our message to the people and our partners on the ground,” said NAFCON’s Secretary General Nikki De Leon.
As of this morning, reports record at least 224 deaths, with 1.1 million impacted by Kalmaegi. Fung-Wong, a storm with a radius spanning nearly the entirety of the Philippines, reached super typhoon status on November 9 ahead of its landfall in Aurora province. Over 30 million people are expected to be directly impacted.
“It’s leaving a trail of destruction across communities,” shared Trixia Aboy of the Consortium for Peoples Development – Disaster Response, NAFCON and KA’s partner on the ground. “Meanwhile, Cebu and other regions in the Visayas and Mindanao are still fending for their survival and recovery from Tino.”
As Fung-Wong batters through Luzon, it evoked memories of Super Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda), whose anniversary just passed on November 8. “When Haiyan ravaged the central Philippines, Filipino-American youth were a powerful force that quickly responded with a generous outpouring of relief. As Typhoon Uwan now ravages the country, our kababayan need us again,” shared Matthew Dumanig, External Vice President of Kabataan Alliance.
De Leon also announced the relaunch of the grassroots Bayanihan Disaster Relief campaign, and called for any individuals and organizations interested to join the effort. “We will be forming task forces in different cities to serve as platforms for collaboration, fundraising, education, and action. At present, at least 200 organizations have given their commitments to convene and join these task forces across the U.S.” De Leon also announced an upcoming relief and rehabilitation mission to the Philippines in December, and at least four more similar trips in 2026.
Organizers further emphasized the importance of the grassroots, people-to-people nature of the campaign given massive public outrage against government corruption tied to faulty or non-existent flood control projects. “In Negros Island alone, we saw at least 50 deaths from Tino and millions of pesos in infrastructure and agricultural damage. Yet Php 2 billion were supposedly spent for various flood control projects. What happened to the money?” stated RJ Ledesma of HAKSON.
Aboy continued: “As we call for donations and immediate assistance, we must also take this moment to confront a deeper issue: that is accountability. Accountability from the system that ensures corruption and neglect. The repeated suffering of our people is not only a result of strong winds and heavy rains, but also of weak governance, negligence, and corruption.”
NAFCON and KA will hold an online launch of the Bayanihan campaign on November 14, 6pm PT. “We may be thousands of miles away from our homeland, but our hearts will always be with our people,” closed Dumanig. ###
Donate at tinyurl.com/nafcondisasterresponse. Join the BDR campaign at tinyurl.com/joinbdrcampaign.
