PH Red Cross, EU diplomats reinforce partnership through blood donation

The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) and diplomats of the European Union (EU) member states in the Philippines strengthened their cooperation as the latter donated blood to PRC as a response to the Red Cross' call for blood donations.

PRC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Senator Richard Gordon expressed gratitude to the EU envoys and ambassadors, and recognized the EU's various assistance to the PRC throughout the years.

"We are very happy to have them all here to give blood. That's the best gift you can give to humanity especially during challenging times. We thank all the ambassadors and all the representatives of EU; it is something that I am really very happy about. Ang mga binigay ng European Union sa Philippine Red Cross through their Red Cross societies ay napakarami. We built about 151,000 homes; most of them came from Europe," he said.

Gordon also stressed that the EU has provided numerous aids to the Philippines to help the country's most vulnerable people, and its contributions to disaster risk reduction and resilience building initiatives of the country.

"The European Union is a great ally of the Philippines. There are a lot of things to be thankful for the EU at natutuwa ako na nagbigay sila ng dugo. Napakalaking simbolo iyan ng ating pagsasama. The European Union has always been on our side, helping us not only in terms of commerce but also other things including education and security. During other disasters, they've been here to help us that's why I urge us to have closer relationships with our European brothers and sisters," Gordon said.

According to the donors, donating their own blood is their personal support to the Filipinos as they understand that blood banks are currently suffering from the absence of donations due to the quarantine restrictions.

"Thank you very much for receiving us here at the Red Cross. It's a great opportunity for us to showcase the so called 'solidarity to the Philippines'. The Philippines and Europe have a long-standing relationship as the European Union very often has provided assistance to the Philippines. I thank you very much for the kind words you said about EU-Philippines cooperation and today, we came here to provide in a way what is most precious from us and a demonstration of our solidarity, our own blood," said Charge d' Affaires Thomas Wiersing of the EU delegation to the Philippines.

Other members of the EU delegation who donated blood are Greek Ambassador Antonis Alexandris, Netherlands Ambassador Saskia De Lang, Consul General Fernando Heredia from the Spanish Embassy, Sweden Ambassador Harald Fries, and Romanian Ambassador Mihail Bujor.