(Contributed photo)
MANILA – Manila Archbishop Jose Cardinal Advincula on Thursday appealed to the people to help residents of areas affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Egay.
The cardinal instructed the parishes of the archdiocese to hold a second collection in Masses on Saturday and Sunday (July 29 and 30) to raise funds to be distributed to the affected dioceses.
"As we offer our prayers and sacrifices for the victims of typhoon Egay, we will help our brothers and sisters in alleviation of their sufferings," said Advincula in an interview over Church-run Radio Veritas.
The donations collected by the parishes will be brought to the accounting office of the Archdiocese of Manila until August 4.
At the same time, the social action arm of the Manila archdiocese Caritas Manila has approved the sending of an initial cash aid amounting to PHP200,000 each to the four dioceses in Northern Luzon.
Caritas Manila executive director Fr. Anton Pascual said those that will receive the initial financial aid are the Archdiocese of Tuguegarao in Cagayan, Diocese of Laoag in Ilocos Norte, Diocese of Nueva Segovia in Ilocos Sur and Diocese of Bangued in Abra.
He said they are currently waiting for an update from the Diocese of Baguio, Apostolic Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe and Diocese of Batanes which are also affected by the typhoon.
The typhoon brought gusty winds and torrential rains in several parts of the country, causing floods and landslides and damaging damaging structures and crops.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said 89,639 families in Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western Visayas, Northern Mindanao, Soccsksargen, Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) and the Cordillera Administrative Region have been affected by the weather disturbance. (PNA)
