In an e-mailed appeal dated January 16l, Fr. Emmanuel A. Sison, OMI, president of the NDJC, said “the devastation brought about by the strong winds and big waves which affected four municipalities in the province of Sulu for the last four days, brought much sadness and despair to the victims.”|
Sison said that based on information gathered from the office of the local Department of Social Welfare and Development, as provided by Cristopher Lee, affected were the towns of Jolo, Indanan, Pangutaran and Patikul but data from the three municipalities are still unavailable.
The data from the Jolo, however, shows 510 families were affected in Tulay Zones 1 and 2 (117 families), Busbus (243), Port Area (143), Chinese Pier (2) and Takut-takut (5).
A total of 414 houses were totally damaged in the five barangays with 198 in Tulay Zones 1 and 2, 119 in Port Area, 90 in Busbus, five in Takut-takut and two in Chinese Pier. A total of 121 houses were partially damaged, 99 of them in Tulay Zones 1 and 2, 20 in the Port Area and two in Busbus.
“At present, 89 Badjao families are taken care of by the Jolo Municipal Government and they are presently accommodated at the ACC building of the local government,” Sison wrote.
He said the Notre Dame of Jolo College community, “being a part of the larger community of Jolo, is very much concerned.”
“To be able to do its part in somehow alleviating the misery of the affected families, the NDJC community has committed itself to assist the victims in whatever form it can,” he said, adding donations can be sent to “Notre Dame of Jolo College, Jolo, Sulu c/o NDJC Peace Center/CES or deposit to the account of Notre Dame of Jolo College, Metrobank Acct. no. 113-3030-203618 or Allied Bank Acct. No. 0009-2100534-7.” (MindaNews)