Bishops appeal for help for Batanes

MANILA, Philippines — The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday appealed to other dioceses to extend donations to the residents of Batanes, which was badly damaged by two earthquakes that struck the province last Saturday.

CBCP’s social arm, the National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA), said it has so far released P200,000 from their Alay Kapwa Fund to help the 2,963 people or 911 families affected by the calamity in Itbayat, Batanes.

Congressmen, meanwhile, have promised to donate at least P5,000 of their salary to victims of the twin earthquakes.

The quakes with magnitude 5.4 and 5.9 jolted Batanes within hours of each other early July 27, killing at least nine people and displacing thousands.

The Itbayat municipal council declared on Monday a state of calamity to allow the local government unit to tap emergency funds.

CBCP president Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles issued a “Solidarity Appeal for the Families and the Local Church of Batanes,” saying the CBCP’s NASSA, which is also called Caritas Philippines, is now accepting donations to help the almost 3,000 people displaced by the strong earthquake.

The CBCP-NASSA is currently under Caceres Archbishop Rolando Tria Tirona.

Valles said that while the government has been providing relief to the victims of the earthquake, the church would complement the humanitarian response.

“However, since the national Caritas is also bracing for more possible typhoons to occur in the later part of the year, we need to use the disaster fund judiciously. This is the reason why we are issuing this solidarity appeal to all the dioceses,” Valles said. 

He said that Batanes Bishop Danilo Ulep would also like to rebuild the churches but the prelature has limited resources to even start the reconstruction.

“Let us help the Prelature of Batanes assist the affected families and rebuild the church structures,” he said.

To those planning to send donations, Caritas Philippines is ready to accept their donations. The accumulated funds would be directly transferred to the Prelature of Batanes. 

They could deposit their donations using these two bank accounts: Bank of the Philippine Islands, Intramuros, Manila branch; account name: CBCP CARITAS FILIPINAS FOUNDATION INC. NASSA, account number: 4951-0071-08 or Metrobank; CBCP-lntramuros branch; account Name: CBCP Caritas Filipinas Foundation Inc.; and account Number: 632-7-63202788-1.

The CBCP is requesting donors to email their deposits with the scanned copy of the deposit slip to [email protected] for proper documentation and acknowledgement.

The donation from the lawmakers is contained in a resolution of sympathy the House of Representatives approved on Monday night, which also fixed the minimum contribution of each of the 300 members at P5,000.

Congressmen and senators receive about P300,000 a month in basic pay.

“The House is going full blast in its donation drive to help the people of Batanes,” Majority Leader Martin Romualdez said yesterday.

He said the chamber’s leadership expects to raise at least P1.5 million from its 300 members through salary deduction.

“The P5,000 is just the minimum amount pegged by the House resolution. The contribution may reach P3 million to P5 million as some congressmen have indicated willingness to donate P50,000 to P100,000 from their salary,” he said.

He added that some of his colleagues would also donate relief goods.

“The donated goods will be turned over to Batanes Rep. Ciriaco Gato Jr. for distribution to appropriate agencies which are tasked to bring?them to the province,” Romualdez said.

Over the weekend, when the earthquakes struck Batanes, Romualdez lent a plane to Gato so he could promptly fly to his province with a team of doctors.

Emergency employment awaits workers displaced as a result of the Batanes quake.

Aftershocks continue

Aftershocks continued to shake Batanes, with the strongest felt at Intensity 5, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported yesterday.

A magnitude 2.4 quake occurred at 12:03 p.m., with its epicenter traced 35 kilometers southeast of Itbayat.

A tremor of magnitude 3.5 struck 41 kilometers southeast of Itbayat at 7:40 p.m. on Monday.

Another quake struck at 10:16 p.m., registering magnitude 2.6. Its epicenter was located 24 km southwest of Itbayat, where it was felt at Intensity 3.

The tremors were aftershocks of the twin quakes which jolted Batanes Saturday.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported yesterday that 911 families or 2,963 individuals from five barangays in Itbayat are still sheltered at the town plaza.

They have been advised to stay put at the evacuation center due to continuing aftershocks.

A total of 15 houses, mostly made of limestone, six classrooms at Mayan Elementary School and seven classrooms of the Itbayat National Agricultural High School were damaged by the quake.

Cracks were also monitored on the now non-functional Itbayat District Hospital as well as the Itbayat Rural Health Unit, with patients needing immediate treatment being airlifted to the capital town of Basco.

As of yesterday, a total of 233 aftershocks with varying intensities have been recorded in the town. The island municipality is under a state of calamity.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) yesterday reported that emergency employment is being readied for the estimated 1,000 quake-affected workers.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III said DOLE will start the profiling to identify the displaced and the assistance needed.

Bello said the selected beneficiaries will work for 30 days and be paid the prescribed minimum wage. – With Jess Diaz, Helen Flores, Mayen Jaymalin, Jaime Laude, Raymund Catindig