SENATOR Juan Miguel Zubiri on Tuesday challenged his fellow candidates to donate their one-month advertising spending to victims of Typhoon Odette.

The senator made the appeal after he used his advertising budget for the upcoming elections to purchase rice, groceries, water, face masks and tents that he personally delivered to the typhoon victims.

“As soon as we saw how Typhoon Odette ravaged Visayas and Mindanao, we decided we would hold off on a month of advertising so we can redirect our funds to purchasing relief goods for our people,” Zubiri said.

“And I am appealing to my fellow candidates, whether for national or local posts, to do the same. I know that advertising is a huge part of everyone’s campaign right now, given the limited movement imposed by the ongoing pandemic, but these concerns are nothing compared to how our people are hungry and homeless in Visayas and Mindanao. They need all the help that we can give,” he added.

Before Christmas and right after the New Year, Zubiri traveled to nine provinces in Visayas and Mindanao to personally deliver 3,200 fifty-kilogram sacks of rice; 3,800 grocery packs; 500 five-gallon jugs of mineral water; 1,200 evacuation tents and 50,000 face masks.

“We first headed out to Visayas and Mindanao just a few days before Christmas, and we saw how much our people still needed, in terms of basic necessities like food and water,” he said.