BERN, SWITZERLAND – Filipinos in Switzerland offered last Sunday a Tagalog mass here for the victims of Tropical Storm “Ondoy”, as Filipino groups here continued to respond to the Philippine Embassy’s appeals for help for their unfortunate countrymen.

Fr. Johan Dumandan, chaplain of the Filipino Catholic mission in Switzerland, told massgoers at the start of this month’s Tagalog mass that special prayers were being held for the storm’s victims.

“Ang pangunahin nating panalangin sa banal na misang ito ang ating mga kababayang nasalanta ng baha at bagyong Ondoy,” said Dumandan.

Oscar Laxa, a native of Batangas, said in addition to financial help, prayers were a powerful means of showing solidarity with the victims of the unexpected floods and widespread devastation.

“Kahit na malayo kami dito, nasa isip at mga dasal namin ang aming mga kawawang mga kababayan,” said Laxa.

Roland Susvilla, vice-chair of the Hiligaynon Group in Switzerland, said they responded to a circular from the Philippine Embassy here in Bern to help the victims. “Our aim is to help our kababayans in Negros and Panay islands, but there are some cases that calamities happen in the (other parts of the) Philippines, so we Filipinos understand how hard is the situation,” he told ABS-CBN Europe News Bureau.

Fr. Dumandan said that even if there was no time to organize a Switzerland-wide fund drive, most groups in the estimated 10,000-strong Filipino community in Switzerland have responded to the appeals for their help on their own.

Many groups had responded to the Philippine Embassy’s September 28, 2009 circular asking the Filipino community for donations in cash or kind to aid agencies like the Department of Social Work and Development and the Philippine ANtional Red Cioss.

But groups like the Caraga Swiss organized members through emails to send money to ABS-CBN’s Sagip Kapamilya relief and rehabilitation account. Caraga Swiss members come from the two Surigao and the two Agusan Provinces.

Still other individuals launched their own initiatives. Jun Enriquez whose family was among the victims in Marikina City, chose to send SMS to friends asking them to help other Marikina families. “Ang naawa ako ay sa mga kababayan ko na walang makain o mainom. Sila ang tulungan natin..,” was part of Enriquez’ SMS to friends. He said he will approach the local Bern television network “Telebärn” so that the appeal for help would be spread wider.