Santo Papa Futbol Cup in Tacloban

MANILA, Philippines - Over a year after typhoon Yolanda brought devastation to much of Central Visayas, several families including thousands of children in the affected areas are still living in makeshift tents and temporary shelters. Many youth are still considered at risk due to lack of adequate shelter and the dangers that they face from child traffickers who operate in such areas.

The Remedios Trinidad Romualdez Medical Foundation (RTR), together with the Henry V. Moran Foundation (THVMF) and Team Socceroo, will host the Santo Papa Futbol Cup in time with the visit to the country of Pope Francis.  The tournament aims to highlight the much-needed work that is still required to protect and care for the youth in typhoon- affected areas.

Pope Francis, who hails from Argentina, a country where football is almost treated like a religion, is a passionate fan of the sport and an official member of San Lorenzo FC, a professional Argentinean club.   

The Santo Papa Futbol Cup will be a two-day football festival that will be held from Jan. 15-16 in the lead-up to the Papal visit to Tacloban on Jan. 17.  The tournament will gather eight teams of typhoon victims aged 13 and under in one venue for a friendly competition.  Six teams will come from typhoon-affected communities assisted by RTR Foundation and the remaining two teams will be coming from areas being helped by EDC.

Team Socceroo, a first division football club in the Philippine’s United Football League, will provide the football coaches, technical and organizational inputs in staging the tournament as part of their social responsibility program.

“We recognize the power of football to not only change lives, but more importantly in its ability to bring love and compassion to those who may have lost hope more than a year after the tragic disaster,” says Danny Moran of the THVMF.  “The Santo Papa Futbol Cup honors Pope Francis, and echoes his message of ‘caring for the poor,’ which will highlight the much-needed work that still needs to be done in the lives of affected children.”