Catholic group spearheads relief drive for 'Pablo' victims

COTABATO CITY, Philippines - The Oblates Missionary Foundation and the media group of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) congregation transported to typhoon-ravaged towns in Southern Mindanao Wednesday a big bulk of relief supplies collected from the city and surrounding provinces the past two weeks.

The OMI, which operates “five peace radio stations” in Mindanao, specializes in humanitarian missions to help  communities  affected by natural calamities and armed conflicts.               

Wednesday’s shipment of relief goods, including food rations, to Compostela Valley, was the second since Typhoon Pablo ravaged parts of the country.

The relief mission, led by Oblate missionary Jonathan Domingo, was supported by various Catholic organizations in Central Mindanao, where the OMI has various missions for local communities.

Domingo is chief executive officer of the OMI’s two influential media outfits, the Notre Dame Broadcasting Corp., and the newspaper Mindanao Cross, published in Cotabato City weekly and is engaged in the continuing promotion of Muslim-Christian unity since 1948.

There has been an overwhelming support for the relief collections drive of the OMI’s media outfits the past days, apparently a result of the intensified appeals for help aired daily by Catholic stations dxND, dxMS and dxOM, located in the cities of Kidapawan, Cotabato, and Koronadal, respectively.

Domingo said they are likely to ship another batch of collected donations to Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental next month.

Employees of the OMI media entities also shelled out cash donations to augment their collections intended for the typhoon victims in the two towns.

Domingo said the Oblate community is grateful to local sectors that donated food, used clothes and other vital provisions through their collection sites in different parts of Mindanao.

Close to 900,000 people are still staying in different evacuation sites in the Davao areas, which were pummeled by Typhoon Pablo, according to reports obtained from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

The OMI Missionary Foundation and the Oblate media group also collected and delivered relief supplies to evacuees in the cities of Iligan and Cagayan de Oro City that were both devastated by Typhoon Sendong last year.