Typhoons are unfortunately natural occurrences in the Philippines, as in other countries of the Far East. Every year there are several tropical storms that would pass by that archipelago, in which the Augustinian Recollects are present since 1606.
On the eve of the Christmas season, the typhoon Washi (‘Eagle’) with its local name Sendong, struck the southern part of the Philippines. It hit the northern part of Mindanao, the great island of the south, on December 16, after which, it continued westbound, hitting the island of Palawan the following today. In the aftermath of the typhoon, there were no less than 1,200 victims and more than a thousand missing persons. According to some agencies, Sendong has been the most devastating storm within the year 2011.
This typhoon has stricken mainly Cagayan de Oro and Iligan on the north coast of Mindanao, two cities which are historically significant to the Augustinian Recollects. It has also affected some ministries of the Augustinian Recollects at present like the parish of Inagawan in Palawan, where Saint Ezekiel Moreno worked almost one hundred fifty years ago. It has affected as well some ministries in the island of Negros. There were 15 dead, 4 missing persons, and 100 families have been displaced in Valencia, Negros Oriental. The chapel of the Augustinian Recollects in Caidiocan, (a barrio of Valencia) has been turned into an evacuation center.
Both the Augustinian Recollect friars and sisters of the Philippines have devoted themselves in soliciting support and funds throughout the whole Archipelago. And volunteers from the Recollect Universities of Cebu and Bacolod have gone to the disaster areas to help.
In the same way, the prior provincial of the Order in the Philippines has released a letter of solidarity with those affected, while encouraging everyone to pray for all the deceased and to provide generous assistance to the victims.