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Friday, March 29, 2024

Yolanda-hit Tacloban set to paint town white

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THOUSANDS of white ribbons put up by typhoon survivors and civil society groups decorate the streets of Tacloban City to welcome Pope Francis, who will visit this storm-battered city on Jan. 17.

“We will paint the town white with ribbons to remind the public that the real purpose of Pope Francis’ visit… is the Holy Father’s solidarity with our plight as survivors of Yolanda and other subsequent typhoon disasters,” said Efleda Bautista, convenor of the People’s Committee to Welcome the Pope in Eastern Visayas.

“When Pope Francis arrives, we may not have the opportunity to raise our concerns over the continuing injustices we experience under the current administration, as he will be met instead by thousands upon thousands of police, soldiers and wooden barriers,” she added.

“The ribbon’s white color represents purity that of the Pope and the truth that we intend to raise and that the Holy Father himself seeks in his journey to typhoon Yolanda ground zero. It also represents simplicity, as in Pope Francis’ choice to wear simple white robes instead of the lavish ones, as symbolic of his giving voice to the cry of the poor,” Bautista said.

Volunteers from the People’s Welcome group dramatized the plight of typhoons survivors earlier by wearing mud on thir bodies while tying white ribbons and distributing pamphlets around Tacloban.

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They were joined by members of the Sisters Association in Mindanao and indigenous Lumad leaders later in the evening to light white candles in a prayer activity at the San Jose Junction to pray for the Pope’s safe arrival in Metro Manila.

The Mindanao sisters and their indigenous laity journeyed to Tacloban City to learn and practice the Pope’s social teachings among Yolanda survivors as well as to raise concerns of the Mindanao people to the Pope.

“We hope the simple gesture of welcoming Pope Francis with a humble ribbon, in contrast to the layers of expensive and expansive print banners by businesses and politicians, would help fellow Filipinos understand the spirit of the Pope’s visit,” Bautista said.

The Yolanda survivors also took to social networks to gain the Pope’s attention, with supporters wearing white ribbons on their profile pictures.

With the assistance of groups from Canada, they also put up a 14-minute documentary on the lives of Yolanda survivors at www.dearpope.org.

“Pope Francis’ visit will show him only the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, given the unnecessary highly militarized security surrounding his travel. We hope to further spread our appeal for the Pope to stand with our continuing struggle for social, environmental, and climate justice through social media, given how he is a tech-savvy pontiff,” Bautista said.

In Palo, Leyte, which the Pope will also visit, the director of the Archdiocese of Palo relief and rehabilitation unit, Fr. Al Cris Badana, urged devotees who plan to see the pontiff to bring transparent raincoats as tropical storm Amang is expected to be over the province on Jan. 17.

He also said that so far that there are no reported changes in the pope’s itenerary in Leyte, despite the expected rains.

The weather bureau earlier said Amang would bring rain over parts of Luzon and the Visayas. It was last spotted at 960 kilometers east of Guiuan, Eastern Samar, according to the 5 a.m. bulletin Thursday.

Badana was in charge of identifying 30 survivors of super typhoon Yolanda and the Bohol earthquake to have a special lunch with the Pope at the Archbishop’s Residence in Palo on Jan. 17.

He declined to release the survivors’ names for security reasons, but said that five survivors each would come from Calbayog, Borongan, Palo, Tanauan, Tolosa and Bohol.

In Leyte, the Pope is expected to bless the newly built Pope Francis Center for the Poor, celebrate Mass at the Tacloban Airport, and meet with priests, consecrated persons and lay representatives at the Palo Cathedral.

The unit that Badana heads has been involved in various rehabilitation efforts for typhoon Yolanda survivors in Leyte for almost a year.

The same group, also have organized relief operations during the recent onslaught of typhoons Ruby and Seniang in Leyte and in Catbalogan, Samar.

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