Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Justin Bieber visits the Philippines for #GiveBackPhilippines; helps to rebuild schools with Philam Foundation

Justin Bieber makes a surprise visit to the Philippines, performs for victims of Typhoon Yolanda in Tacloban City. Philam Life, together with Justin, hands over USD $500,000.00 donation to Philam Foundation to build schools in cooperation with the Department of Education as part of the #GiveBackPhilippines campaign.


As one of the most “followed” celebrities online, Justin is committed to using his massive social online following to help rebuild the lives of children and families affected by the typhoon. “When I first heard about the massive scale of the Typhoon Yolanda disaster that had struck thePhilippines I knew I wanted to help in any way I could, that is why we came up with this campaign” said Justin. 

Last December 5, Justin launched #GiveBackPhilippines in partnership with Prizeo, AIA - The Real Life Company and TV5. In the Philippines, Philam Life and BPI-Philam are members of the AIA Group Company. In Prizeo.com, we see Justin calling out to his fans to support his online donation campaign. Justin has selected three beneficiaries for his online donation campaign: Philam Foundation, UNICEF and Action Against Hunger. 

Apart from his online personal appeal for donations, Justin Bieber also surprised his Filipino fans today as he visited Tacloban’s City Central School and San Jose Elementary School. Justin was welcomed with the warm smiles and cheers of our fellowmen as he performed a series of Christmas songs and “Baby”, one of his hits. 

Amidst the smiles and raving cheers of his fans, much work is needed to be done to rebuild Tacloban and the rest of Central Visayas. With Typhoon Yolanda damaging more than 3,000 schools, the need to rebuild school classrooms is an urgent priority in order to establish a sense of normalcy and help children recover from their tragic experience. Justin has selected Philam Foundation as one of the beneficiaries of #GiveBackPhilippines to help in the rehabilitation efforts by building school classrooms under its Philam Paaralan Program.


Later that evening, a check representing Philam Life’s donation of USD $500,000 was turned over to Philam Foundation to kickstart the building of the schools. A model school of Philam Paaralan was also turned over to DepEd Undersecreatry Mario Deriquito. “We are thankful for the generosity of Philam Life, AIA and Justin Bieber. #GiveBackPhilippines can help make a difference in the lives of many children affected and hopefully, we also create greater awareness globally for the need to have healthy school infrastructure here in the Philippines”, says Department of Education Undersecretary Mario Deriquito. 

Through the Philam Paaralan program, Philam Foundation will build fully-furnished school classrooms complete with restrooms in Central Visayas within 2014. The program also provides children with the basics of hygiene and healthy living through WASH (Water Sanitation and Hygiene Program).

“While we are seeing less and less of the devastation caused by Typhoon Yolanda in the headlines, there is an urgent need for us to focus our attention on rehabilitation after the initial relief efforts,” said Isca Abaya, Philam Life’s Head of Marketing. “We are pleased to have partnered with Justin to launch this initiative which will greatly help in the recovery of the typhoon devastated areas. Building of schools is a necessary and urgent step to get the people of Central Visayas back on their feet and start rebuilding their lives. Amidst these real life struggles, we call on real life heroes to help.” 

"So many kids are being deprived of their basic right to learn because the typhoon destroyed their schools. That's why it's cool to be working with Philam Foundation to build schools all around the typhoon-devastated areas so they can go back to learning again," said Justin

For more information, please check out www.philamlife.com. To donate or participate in #GiveBackPhilippines, visit prizeo.com/justin.

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