Bishop proposes 'Adopt-a-Family' program this holiday season

MANILA, Philippines - Families spared from the wrath of tropical storm “Sendong” can adopt a family displaced by flashfloods and mudslides during the Christmas season, according to a Catholic archbishop.

In a letter titled “A Time to Grieve, A Time to Build,” Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma encouraged the faithful to participate in the “Family-Adopt-a-Family Program.”

The letter was posted in CBCPNews, the official newsletter of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Under the program, a family would welcome a family, victimized by the storm, into their home and share their Noche Buena and other meals on Christmas Eve.

“Families unaffected by the flood can invite to their homes an evacuee family, especially those that have lost their homes or loved ones, for a few days or for a Christmas meal to share the spirit of the season,” he said.

“May the newborn child in the manger fill us with the spirit of solidarity in moments of adversity and hope in the sharing of love and life with one another.”

Ledesma said Christmas should be a joyous occasion.

However, this year, in Cagayan de Oro “we mourn and express our condolence for all those who have perished in the wake of typhoon Sendong on Dec. 16-17,” he added.

Ledesma said some families are suffering because rampaging waters of Cagayan de Oro River washed away their kin or their property.

“There are accounts of how a mother clutching the hands of two children was able to escape from the floods, only to lose another child whose pleas for help could be heard receding in the darkness of the night,” he said.

“Another family was able to hold on to an uprooted balete tree that floated out into Macajalar Bay and reached the shores of Camiguin Island. Floating bodies have been retrieved from the waters of nearby towns.”

Others died in their sleep, trapped inside their homes by the sudden rise of floodwaters, he added.

Ledesma said in some of their parishes, it would be difficult to celebrate Misa de Gallo because the churches have been turned into a refuge for families seeking higher ground.

“In one chapel, even pigs and other animals were brought in and tied at the foot of the altar,” he said.

“Lay ministers were scandalized until the parish priest reminded them that this must have been the same situation in the stable of that first Christmas night.”

Ledesma said he is elated to see that evacuation centers are slowly being organized, and that many volunteers and organizations are extending assistance.

“We are heartened by the visit of President Aquino and other public officials,” he said.

“His declaration of a state of national calamity and observation that families should not be allowed to return to extremely dangerous areas are welcome statements.”

Last January 2009, Cagayan de Oro City had already experienced severe flooding. Some old-time residents recalled that this phenomenon happens every 40 years.

But barely three years after that, Sendong came with greater vengeance.

Ledesma said a broader look should be cast at the entire river basin area of Cagayan de Oro River.

“This extends to the northwestern part of Bukidnon and surrounding areas. Illegal logging and irresponsible mining activities have contributed to the degradation of the environment and the siltation of the river bed,” he said.

“The erection of man-made structures may have also impeded the natural flow of the waters.”

Ledesma said the continued hydraulic flush mining along Iponan River could have caused widespread flooding of the city’s Canitoan-Iponan areas.

“It is for these reasons that we have to strengthen the Cagayan de Oro River Basin Management Council, a multi-sectoral effort to protect and conserve our most precious natural resource after our human resources – the river system,” he said.