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PHILIPPINES: Emergency aid granted as hurricane crisis deepens
By John Pontifex and John Newton
The Dominican Sisters of Regina Rosarii helping hurricane victims in the Philippines
Aid to the Church in Need is to provide emergency aid to the Philippines as the region grapples with a natural disaster of epic proportions.
Responding to a desperate appeal for help, the charity is despatching funds to provide food, clean water, blankets, clothes and hospital beds amid reports of millions of people in urgent need.
The aid package of £12,500 is being sent to the Dominican Sisters of Regina Rosarii for distribution in the Philippines’ dioceses of Cubao and Antipolo.
At least 250 people have been reported dead since Typhoon Ondoy (also known as Ketsana) hit the Philippines on Saturday, 26th September and more than two million are thought to be affected by the disaster.
In a message to Aid to the Church in Need, Sister Mary Brasil, superior general of the Dominican Sisters of Regina Rosarii, said: “We are in distress. We can only cry at the pain our people are experiencing here.”
Sister Mary went on: “Please come to our aid. This is an emergency.”
The Dominican superior reported that their relief work was being overshadowed by the threat of a second typhoon – far worse than the first. Typhoon Pepeng was first spotted on Thursday, 1st October and has stronger winds than Ondoy, reaching up to 95mph near its centre.
Sister Mary said: “As if the previous typhoon is not enough, we have another super-typhoon coming. This gives the people so much fear. We can only pray.”
Supported by Bishop Honesto Ongtioco of Cubao, the work of the Sisters has concentrated on the people worst affected by the disaster.
Sister Mary explained: “Since day one of the typhoon that flooded our streets and houses, we have served hot meals and soup to wet and hungry victims in Quezon city, particularly the street families who also lost their shanties.”
She continued: “We have had no sleep practically since the big flood last Saturday. We are helping first of all… the street families who are also displaced.”
As well as supporting flood victims in Quezon city – the country’s most populated city and former capital – the Sisters are helping those affected in the municipality of Tanay Rizal.
In her message to Aid to the Church in Need, Sister Mary wrote: “God bless you all for your compassion. Father Werenfried [Aid to the Church in Need’s late founder] surely has a heart for people ‘where God weeps’. Thank you very much.”
She went on to describe how in one village, Tanay Proper, most houses were washed away by the flood, leaving 51 villagers injured. Twenty people are still missing.
The Sister singled out for special mention villager Menardo David who lost his parents, wife, two sons and a grandchild when the typhoon struck. Sister Mary told Aid to the Church in Need: “It is bad enough to lose a home, property and things – how much more to lose a loved one or whole members of their family.”
Stunned by the scale of the devastation, the Sisters have prioritised those areas overlooked by the media and thus especially short of help.
She said; “We have gathered, through the efforts of our members, food and clothing. It is not enough however.”
The Sisters will be organising a retreat to provide psychological and spiritual help to families whose loved ones drowned in the flood.
Aid to the Church in Need is also committed to providing long term help, including repairs to church buildings and other infrastructure devastated by the typhoon.