APPEAL FROM PHILIPPINES
AN APPEAL TO THE REDEMPTORIST CONFRERES AROUND THE WORLD
FROM THE PROVINCIALS OF THE (VICE)PROVINCES OF CEBU & MANILA
11 November 2013
Dear Confreres
By now, you know about the impact of the Super Typhoon Haiyan (locally called "Yolanda") as
it made landfall in the central and southern islands of the Philippines last Friday, November 8,
2013. The devastation is massive and the consequences tragic for the millions of Filipino
people.
More accurate data as to the extent of the destruction of lives and properties still need to be
ascertained, but the initial data from the International Red Cross, the State’s National Disaster
Risk Reduction and Management Council and media outlets indicate the epic proportions of the
devastation. The worst hit place is Tacloban City in Central Visayas, where an estimated 10,000
people are feared dead mainly because of the storm surges that brought 3-story high sea waters
into the heavily-populated urban center. Elsewhere the data of fatalities include: Eastern Samar
– 300, Cebu – 40, Iloilo – 56, Palawan – 10 and a few in the provinces of Quezon, Batangas,
Camarines Norte, Zamboanga City, Surigao del Sur, Masbate, Aklan and Capiz. Indeed, Haiyan
affected quite a vast area of the country. A day after the typhoon, dead bodies littered the streets
of Tacloban City, a city with a population of more than 200,000.
Massive relief operations of the government began immediately, but their efforts were hampered
by the lack of electricity, transportation and communication facilities as well as the destruction
of airport, boat and bus terminals. Owing to the limited supply of food in the worst hit areas,
within a day people were desperate for food and drinking water. Medicines in the few hospitals
ran out of supply. Other countries and international aid agencies have come to the rescue to the
affected areas but even with such assistance to supplement what the State could mobilize, the
need is just so immense that more food, medicine, clothing and other immediate needs are so
desperately required.
We have a community in Tacloban City with a parish and shrine of the Our Mother of Perpetual
Help. For two days we lost communication with our confreres there. Only on the third day did
we hear that they along with our lay staff were safe. We thank God for that even as we grieve
with the families who lost their loved ones. More than 2,000 people living within our compound
have evacuated and are now living in various parts of our property and are in urgent need for
food, water and medicine. Outside of Tacloban, our other Redemptorist communities were not
hit. This allows the network of Redemptorist communities across the country to mobilize
whatever support we can give initially to Tacloban and then to the rest of the affected areas.
Here is our church in Tacloban turned into an evacuation center in the aftermath of
Yolanda's rage.
In the spirit of our shared Alphonsian sense of compassion for the most abandoned – and in our
context in the Philippines right now that means the victims of this typhoon especially those who
may not be reached easily by State and civil society aid – we appeal to your sense of solidarity
with the Filipino people who not only need immediate relief assistance but help for rehabilitation
purposes (thousands of houses will need to be built in the near future, trauma healing and stress
debriefing will need to be conducted and other forms of assistance).
If you send cash donation, the best manner as of the moment is to send it to this bank account of
the Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI), at Business Park Branch, Cebu City No. 2931-0026-54.
Account name is Redemptorist Province.
Thank you very much for your generous support. God bless you!
Fr. Cruzito Manding, C.Ss.R.
Provincial
Cebu Province
Fr. Ariel Lubi, C.Ss.R.
Vice-Provincial
Manila Vice Province