Dumaguete diocese sets activities

CEBU, Philippines - The Diocese of Dumaguete has lined up some activities today, in solidarity with the rest of the nation in commemorating the first year anniversary of super typhoon Yolanda that left thousands of people dead and immeasurable damage to property in its trail in November 8 last year.

Dumaguete Bishop Julito Cortes said all the parishes in the diocese, covering the cities and towns of Negros Oriental from Jimalalud to Basay and the entire nearby island-province of Siquijor will join in the nationwide tolling of bells at 6 p.m. today.

Cortes will also preside a concelebrated Mass at the St. Catherine of Alexandria Cathedral-the seat of the diocese-in Dumaguete City at 10:30 a.m. to honor those who died after Yolanda devastated several areas in the Visayas region and other parts of the country.

The different parishes of the Dumaguete Diocese will also have their respective masses for the same intention while Bishop Cortes will also read a prayer specifically written for the Yolanda commemoration.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines-National Secretariat for Social Action is spearheading the national day of prayer for Yolanda victims, who are mainly the reason for Pope Francis' visit to the country in January 2015.

Father Burton Villarmente, director of the diocese's Social Action Center, appealed to the public to participate in the activities and offer prayers for the thousands of dead and homeless affected by Yolanda.

The CBCP had announced through the media that bells will be ringing in at least 50,000 churches across the country today.

While the province of Negros Oriental was spared by one of the strongest tropical cyclones recorded in the world last year, Villarmente said, "we must continue to pray for them," in solidarity with those that are still recovering from the devastation.

The Diocese of Dumaguete, through the Social Action Center, was one of the firsts from Negros Oriental to send relief aid to Leyte after the storm. Villarmente and a medical team from the Holy Child Hospital left for Tacloban City five days after Yolanda, for the first wave of relief operations. He returned twice during the aftermath, again bringing relief goods donated by kind-hearted groups and citizens locally and internationally to Leyte.

These were in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines who sent a C-130 aircraft to Dumaguete and the Oriental Negros Children's Advocacy Network, as well as a local businessman who provided a ten-wheeler truck and ferried the relief goods via Cebu to the Eastern Visayas region.

While Negros Oriental was barely affected by the super typhoon, Yolanda has etched a mark in groups and individuals in the forefront of disaster preparedness and management in the province.

Villarmente said people are now more educated and with a higher level of awareness on the risks of various types of disasters, especially flooding, such as typhoons Sendong in November 2011 and Pablo in 2012, and the 6.9-magnitude earthquake that ravaged the province.

The priest was referring to the typhoons Sendong in late November 2011 and Pablo in late 2012, and the magnitude-6.9 earthquake that ravaged many parts of northern Negros Oriental in early 2012 and the magnitude 7.2 quake that destroyed Bohol in October last year. — Judy Flores Partlow and Juancho R. Gallarde (FREEMAN)