Davao Archbishop Valles: Help give earthquake victims a Merry Christmas
Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles | CDND Photo / Gerard Vincent Francisco
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles today appealed to the public to continue sending aid to thousands of displaced residents of earthquake-stricken areas in Mindanao as their “needs are so great.”
Valles said the situation is most difficult and sad for the victims who will likely be spending Christmas Day in their tents in the evacuation sites.
“I wrote a panawagan, it is circulating. The needs are so great. My figures, although this is quite old, November 4, close to 29,000 families are suffering in varying degrees,” Valles said during his visit to Cebu on Wednesday, November 13.
The Davao Archdiocesan prelate was in Cebu to attend the news conference hosted by the Cebu Archdiocese to announce the various activities starting this year leading to the quincentennial anniversary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines in 2021.
Valles said the evacuees will need more help as they continue to stay in makeshift shelters and evacuation sites since it will be too risky for them to return to their earthquake-ravaged villages.
“Some of them even if they are brave enough to go home, di na sila makabalik (they can no longer return to their homes) (as) many areas have been declared as no-build zones. Dako kaayo nang problema (That is a big problem),” Valles said.
“They may be staying pa more days and weeks in evacuation centers. That means a need for more aid: food, drinking water, and God forbid, medicines for the children. The need to campaign for help for these people is still on,” he added.
Valles said he hoped that the desire to help the victims will not dissipate over time.
“We know that Christmas is approaching and we know that Christmas in the evacuation center is very sad. The little thing that we can do is to bring more help to these people,” Valles said.
Meanwhile, the Cebu provincial government continues to accept donations in cash and in kind for the earthquake victims.
Capitol has already allocated P20 million of cash aid for the eight severely-affected areas in Davao del Sur and North Cotabato./elb
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