CADDIES GET A LIFT

The people carrying golf bags through one of Pampanga’s best-known courses were among those carrying a different burden after floods swept across the province.

Five hundred caddies and employees of Pradera Verde Golf & Country Club received food assistance from Malaysian groups this month after flooding affected their families and communities.

The aid was distributed during the club’s September Monthly Medal by MYFG, the Embassy of Malaysia in Manila and the Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industries Philippines.

The groups also provided rice and canned goods to 220 families in flood-hit communities.

More than 330 villages across Pampanga were affected by the recent flooding, according to the organizers.

The distribution at Pradera Verde put an unusual face on disaster relief: the workers behind a leisure industry that continued operating while many of them were dealing with constraints at home.

The Malaysian groups said the assistance was intended to help cover immediate food needs rather than replace longer-term recovery efforts.

Malaysian Ambassador Dato’ Abdul Malik Melvin Castelino Anthony led the initiative with MYFG and MCCI.