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MANILA, Philippines?The Catholic Church on Friday made fresh calls for Filipinos to extend help to Pakistan, where 20 million residents are coping with the worst ever flooding to hit the impoverished Islamic nation.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Caritas Filipinas national director, said there was an urgent need to provide flood-stricken residents prompt assistance to save more lives and to avert an impending health crisis.
He encouraged Filipinos to lend a hand, saying that they were no strangers to ?heartbreaking losses? brought about by similar natural calamities.
?Nearly a year has passed when we, too, suffered from simultaneous wraths of Typhoons ?Pepeng? and ?Ondoy,?? said Pabillo in a letter sent two weeks ago to social action centers across the country.
?We were left with an aftermath of devastated areas and shattered spirits and it was through the compassion and solidarity of people, both here and abroad, that the victims were able to pull through,? he stressed.
Pabillo was referring to the back-to-back storms that hit the country late last year, leaving hundreds of people dead and villages submerged in floodwaters.
In asking for donations for flood-stricken Pakistan, Pabillo also said on Thursday over Radio Veritas that the Caritas Filipinas was already mobilizing aid from charitable institutions to fulfill the immediate needs of the Pakistani population.
Anila Gil of Caritas Pakistan has also made an appeal for help over the Church-run radio network on Thursday.
