POPE Francis offered prayers and asked for aid for Filipinos affected by typhoon “Odette” which has left over 200 persons dead and devastated a number of areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.
“I express my closeness to the people of the Philippines affected by a strong typhoon, which has destroyed many homes,” the Pope said after the Sunday Angelus in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican City.
“May the Santo Niño bring consolation and hope to the families most in need and may he inspire all of us to give concrete help. The first concrete help is prayer, and other aid,” he added.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, Odette has affected 181,500 families or 706,634 individuals in several regions.
The most destructive storm to hit the country this year also damaged houses, isolated communities, and cut power and communication lines.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines yesterday declared December 25 (Christmas Day) and December 26 as National Days of Prayer for Odette victims.
In a letter jointly released by the CBCP and its humanitarian arm, Caritas Philippines, the Catholic Church is set to offer prayers to the families affected by the calamity in the coming weekend.
“We are calling on all dioceses to dedicate December 25 and 26, 2021 as the National Days of Prayer for families and communities affected by Odette,” said CBCP.
The CBCP also urged dioceses and archdioceses nationwide to conduct a second collection during masses on Christmas Day and on December 26 to help in the Catholic Church’s emergency response.
“We encourage everyone to remit all collections to Caritas Philippines, which will then plan and implement our overall response, and on a regular basis, will provide us reports and updates,” said the CBCP.
The CBCP said the collective effort is needed as at least 10 dioceses in the country were affected by the typhoon. These are the archdioceses of Surigao, Tagbilaran, Talibon, Cebu, Puerto Princesa, Taytay, Maasin, Dumaguete, San Carlos, and Kabankalan.
Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi asked party mates in the ruling PDP-Laban to join relief efforts, and party leaders from areas not affected by the typhoon to adopt communities that need rebuilding under the “Kandili ng ng PDP” program.
Cusi, leader of a faction of the PDP, said he contributed P1 million to the PDP Laban Relief Fund while the party dropped its budget for its quarterly National Council Meeting and donated it to relief efforts.
PDP faction secretary general Melvin Matibag expressed belief the party will be able to raise P10 million and said it is talking with the “Communist Party of China on how the latter can provide relief assistance to the typhoon victims.”
“PDP Laban and the Communist Party of China maintain a formal cooperation agreement where parties agreed to give assistance in times of necessity,” Matibag said.
Manila Mayor and presidential aspirant Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso asked the national government to speed up the the delivery of assistance, including processing of insurance claims, in areas affected by Odette.
”Kailangang mabilis ang aksyon ng mga insurance company sa claim, yung gobyerno na ating inaasahan dapat mabilis ang kilos (The insurance company should provide the claims and the government is expected to act immediately),” Moreno said.
The Insurance Commission is a government agency under the Department of Finance, which supervises and regulates the operations of life and non-life companies, mutual benefit associations, and trusts for charitable uses.
Moreno, standard bearer of Aksyon Demokratiko, also called on the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation to act fast in processing the claims of farmers and fishermen whose livelihood were ravaged by typhoon Odette.
Meanwhile, Moreno said some businessmen from Urdaneta City in Pangasinan have donated P250,000 to his relief efforts, on top of P2.5-million financial assistance granted by the city council of Manila and another P2 million that he said he was able to raise personally.
“Hopefully, within a day, another set of financial assistance will be extended to those areas,’ he said.
Moreno also said several Manila residents returned the “Noche Buena” packages they received from the city government and asked that these be donated to communities affected by Odette. — With Jocelyn Montemayor and Ashzel Hachero
