2nd Yolanda commemoration prayers, candles offer for the dead

CEBU, Philippines - Thousands of survivors from Tacloban City, and the towns of Palo, Tanauan and Tolosa Cutting are scheduled on November 8 to light at least 50,000 candles and offer prayers for the souls of those who died during super typhoon Yolanda.

The event, dubbed as Candlelight Memorial Year 2, the people from these places are expected to converge at dusk on that day, along the highway connecting the city and the neighboring towns, in commemoration of the Yolanda tragedy in 2013 that left at least 6,000 people dead.

The candlelight event would however be distinct from memorial activities that each local government unit will be staging on November 7 and 8, although it would be synchronized with each other to avoid confusion to the participants.

A committee, led by Monsignor Alex Opiniano, parish priest of the St. Michael Archangel Parish in Tolosa, has been meeting with representatives from civic and religious organizations and other sectors, mostly from Tacloban City, to discuss preparations for the Candlelight Memorial.

“This is basically a solemn spiritual expression of the people, continuing what was done last year,” Opiniano said.

As proposed a commemorative mass will also be held at the Palo Cathedral Transfiguration of Our Lord in the morning of November 8 and another tentatively set in the afternoon at the seaside Sto. Niño Church in Tacloban to be presided by Archbishop John Forrosuelo Du.

The afternoon mass was planned to precede the candle-lighting ceremony and simultaneous prayer.

Priests of the respective parishes along the main road traversing Tacloban City, Palo, Tanauan and Tolosa will bless the candles and those who will be lighting the candles during the memorial activity.

The basic ecclesial communities, barangay leaders and parish youth ministries will be mobilized to gather the people to the candlelight sites

Jude Acidre of Tingog Sinirangan said this event will be open to everyone who wanted to say prayers in memory of those who perished in Yolanda and in gratefulness for another life lent to the survivors regardless of religious affiliations and political persuasions.

Acidre, a former seminarian and now community organizer, said prayer cards will be distributed to the people along the queue of candle lights to serve as souvenir of those who will be taking part in the event.

Acidre said he also expected the participation of all Tacloban-based radio stations, which will simultaneously broadcast prayers and reflections.

Further, there will be a concert, Laudato Si (Praise Be To You), by the Eastern Visayas Choral Association, conducted by choir master Stephen Lagarde of the University of the Philippines Visayas-Tacloban, he said.

Last year, the Yolanda tragedy’s first commemoration ceremony was led by a private group, One Tacloban, with similar candle-lighting ceremony along the main thoroughfares of Tacloban City. Mass and blessings of graves were also held at the mass graveyard at Barangay Basper in the city. The towns of Palo, Tanauan and Tolosa also had their respective commemorative activities.

The government placed the Yolanda death toll at 6,300 and missing victims at 1,061, but forensics claimed the number could even reach 18,000 including the missing victims. (FREEMAN)