Filipino community members, officials join in the unveiling of “THANK YOU” signage in Sydney, Australia

Members of the Filipino community in Sydney gathered early in the morning of February 08 at the corner of Darlinghurst Road and William Street in Darlinghurst, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, together with Consul General Anne Jalando-on Louis and Tourism Attaché Consuelo Jones, to witness the roll-out of the ““Thank you” signage for the contributions of Australia and the whole world in the ongoing relief and reconstruction program for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in the Philippines.

According to Ms. Jones, the 7:40 a.m. roll-out in Sydney marked the time (4:40a.m.) that the supertyphoon made landfall in the Philippines on 8 November 2013. The unveiling of the signages was simultaneously held in Manila and eight other countries.

In the wake of the typhoon, there has been an outpouring of support from across all sectors of Australian society for the assistance programs for the typhoon victims in the Philippines. Seeing this outpouring of support from the international community, the Philippine Department of Tourism joined the #PHthankyou movement and created a visual thank you message that represent the collective gratitude of the Filipino people.

Among those who turned up to witness the roll-out of the signages were Filipino-Australians who came from Tacloban, Leyte and Filipino community leaders who have been organizing charity events in aid of the typhoon victims. Also present at the event was Consulate staff Fidel Simeon.