TACLOBAN CITY, (PNA) — The Roman Catholic Church and the One Tacloban team will join hands to light 50,000 candles to mark the second year commemoration of super typhoon Yolanda.
Msgr. Alex Opiniano of the Saint Michael the Archangel parish in Tolosa, Leyte and One Tacloban founder Jeff Manibay are preparing to stage a Yolanda Candlelight Memorial.
Last year, in the first staging of the candle light memorial in Tacloban, about 28,000 candles were lighted in almost 28 kilometers of road stretch from Tacloban airport to lower Nula-Tula village in the northern part of the city.
On Nov. 8, 2015, the candle lighting will cover the same areas and expand it to nearby badly-hit towns of Palo, Tanauan and Tolosa.
An additional 24 kilometers of roads will be lighted with candles from this city to Tolosa town where some mass graves are situated.
Opiniano said that the event will serve as the collective remembrance and prayers for the victims of the 2013 disaster and to generate funds to rebuild and restore chapels in Tolosa town.
“We are appealing to the general public to support this memorial event and bear in mind the two objects” Opiniano told PNA.
Manibay, who spearheaded the event last year, turned over the spearheading of event to Opininano, since his group will be going to London to stage the super typhoon Yolanda art exhibit.
The priest also asked the support of Jude Acidre of Tingog Sinirangan party list group, the multi-media in Tacloban, local officials, village officials and parishes in the different areas.
Wide participation will compensate the lack of time and financial resources, according to the parish priest.
Acidre expressed his wholehearted support to this endeavor, who said that aside from the prayers for those who lost their lives, the event is also for the survivors.
“For this is the time when we are reminded that we are stronger than any strong typhoon because we have each other,” he added.
The event will be synchronized with other activities related to the commemoration of the typhoon to make the day memorable.
Although the event is organized by the church, the group asks the support of everyone for there is so much to do with the event.
The group is also looking for organizations to adopt some convergence points and watch the place during the lighting of the candles.
The group of Opiniano, Acidre and the multi-media in Tacloban, is hoping to make the event a commemoration that is worth the meaning and impact of super typhoon Yolanda in every one’s life. (PNA)
FPV/SQM/LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA/EGR
