MANILA, Philippines—Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales on Monday announced that all offertory collections from last Sunday’s Masses will go straight to the typhoon victims, particularly those whose homes have been submerged in floods in Central Luzon.
Rosales aired his reminder to all the parish priests in the Manila archdiocese over the Church-run Radio Veritas on Monday.
“We are reminding all our parish priests that all of their Sunday collections will be allocated to the victims of the typhoon and flooding in Bulacan, Pampanga and other areas hit by the calamity,” said Rosales.
In the wake of Typhoon Pedring, which caused massive flooding in Metro Manila and provinces in Northern Luzon early last week, the Catholic Church has mobilized its social and charity arms to provide relief to the affected families.
Caritas Manila executive director Fr. Anton Pascual also said that various churches in the capital have also started collecting donations both cash and in kind—particularly canned goods, noodles, hygiene kits—for residents in Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga and Quezon province.
A truck from the diocese of Nueva Ecija was expected to arrive at Caritas Manila’s main office in Pandacan, Manila, to pick up relief goods prepared since last week, Pascual said also over Radio Veritas.
He encouraged further kind-hearted parishioners to offer assistance in the form of food, clothes and medicines. “We appeal to the faithful to extend their help … it doesn’t need to be a lot, even a single canned good would go a long way,” Pascual said.
Aside from donations, Pascual also solicited prayers from the faithful.
“In this month of the Holy Rosary, let us call on heaven not to give us strong typhoons anymore because our country is still suffering from the previous storms,” said the priest.
Meanwhile, San Fernando, Pampanga Auxiliary Bishop Roberto Mallari requested President Aquino to allow the government to utilize the multibillion-peso budget allocated for the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer program to provide relief to the typhoon victims.
“The typhoon victims really need a lot of help [but] if the government does not have enough fund for them, it must use the CCT fund to help out those in Central Luzon, Northern Luzon and even the Bicol region,” said Mallari.