Bishop asks parishioners to pray Oratio Imperata

DAGUPAN CITY, Philippines  – Archbishop Socrates Villegas has asked his parishioners in Lingayen-Dagupan to pray the “Oratio Imperata” for deliverance from calamities.

He posted this prayer to be recited during Masses: “Almighty Father, we raise our hearts to You in gratitude for the wonders of creation of which we are part, for Your providence in sustaining us in our needs, and for Your wisdom that guides the course of the universe.

“We acknowledge our sins against You and the rest of creation. We have not been good stewards of Nature. We have confused Your command to subdue the earth.

“The environment is made to suffer our wrongdoing, and now we reap the harvest of our abuse and indifference. Global warming is upon us. Typhoons, floods, volcanic eruption, and other natural calamities occur in increasing number and intensity.

“We turn to You, our loving Father, and beg forgiveness for our sins. We ask that we, our loved ones and our hard-earned possessions be spared from the threat of calamities, natural and man-made.

“We beseech You to inspire us all to grow into responsible stewards of Your creation, and generous neighbors to those in need. Amen.”

Meanwhile, Pangasinan Rep. Gina de Venecia, whose district was spared from flooding, brought relief goods for affected residents of Marikina and Quezon City with the help of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

De Venecia said the recently finished protective slope and spur dike in Barangay Binday, San Fabian costing to P35 million helped mitigate flooding in her district.

Several drainage systems had been constructed last June in several parts of her district to avoid a repeat of the massive flooding during typhoon “Pepeng” in 2009, she added.

De Venecia has filed House Bill 6003, an Act Establishing a National Inter-Agency Dam Safety Monitoring Committee For Proper and Effective Dam Monitoring System.

The sudden release of a big volume of water from San Roque Dam in San Manuel, Pangasinan in 2009 that flooded the province must be a wake-up call to have a national policy on dam monitoring and quick announcement on dam water release to prevent heavy losses, De Venecia said. – With Evelyn Macairan