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At least eight Caritas Internationalis Member Organizations (CIMOs) have already pledged their support to the Philippine Catholic Church’s on-going response to Typhoon Lawin (Haima), which is being led by the National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA)/Caritas Philippines.
Based on the latest situation report published by NASSA/Caritas Philippines, those which already expressed their support are CAFOD (Caritas England and Wales), Caritas Belgium, Caritas New Zealand, and Development and Peace (Caritas Canada).
Caritas Española and Caritas Luxembourg also helped in finalizing the response plans with NASSA/Caritas Philippines.
Earlier, assessment teams from the Catholic Relief Services (Caritas USA) were also deployed in Isabela, while Cordaid (Caritas Netherlands) will join the rapid assessment today (Monday).
These Caritas member organizations have been partners of NASSA/Caritas Philippines since the 1960s helping the Philippine Catholic Church implement various development, advocacy and humanitarian programs.
One of the biggest programs they supported is the on-going Yolanda rehabilitation program which so far amounted to P4.6 billion and helped more than 1.8 million Filipinos.
“As always, our heartfelt thanks to the Caritas family who worked side by side with us in bringing humanitarian aid to Filipinos affected by strong typhoons since the time of Yolanda up to now,” NASSA/Caritas Philippines Executive Secretary Fr. Edwin Gariguez said.
Initially, the Philippine Catholic Church through NASSA/Caritas Philippines allocated P2-million from its emergency funds called “Alay Kapwa” to support the on-going relief operations in Northern Luzon.
But with the increasing number of affected population and damage to properties and agriculture, Gariguez cited that its local emergency fund may not be enough to cope with the emerging needs on the grounds.
“NASSA/Caritas Philippines is now in the process of launching an emergency appeal to the global Caritas confederation,” he added.
NASSA/Caritas Philippines is the development, advocacy and humanitarian arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.
Caritas is the official aid agency of the Catholic Church with 165 member countries including NASSA/Caritas Philippines. The Vatican-based Caritas Internationalis, the umbrella organization of all Caritas worldwide, is currently headed by Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle, its first Asian president.
