November 2009

INVOCARE AUSTRALIA DEDICATES A MEMORIAL PLAQUE FOR CALAMITY VICTIMS

A memorial plaque dedicated to the people in the Philippines who perished in Typhoon Ondoy (Cyclone Ketsana) was unveiled at the Pinegrove Memorial Park in Minchinbury, NSW by Philippine Consul General Eva G. Betita and Invocare General Manager Arman Mikaelian.

Typhoon Ondoy was one of the four typhoons that hit the Philippines’ island of Luzon over a period of four successive weeks, between 25 September and 31 October 2009. The floods caused by Typhoon Ondoy, the country’s worst in 40 years, left 464 people dead and 37 missing.

The unveiling of the plaque was held during the solemn rituals held on 30 October for the Feast of All Souls concelebrated by the priests of the Filipino Chaplaincy of the Sydney Diocese and the Filipino Chaplaincy of the Parramatta Diocese. The plaque is now a permanent marker in a section of the cemetery called the “Filipino Memorial of Christ the Risen Lord”.

Typhoons Ondoy, Pepeng, and Santi (otherwise known as Cyclones Ketsana, Parma, and Mirinae) left a total of 961 dead and 40 missing.

As of 15 November 2009, the Filipino Community in New South Wales has donated at least A$470,000 in assistance funds, as well as over 1,400 boxes of relief goods and 21 pallets of canned food products totaling over 26 metric tons in weight, to the victims of these recent floods. The Australian Government had given A$ 3 million in relief assistance to the calamity victims.

From left: Consul General Eva G. Betita, Invocare Regional Manager Moises Millena, and Invocare General Manager Armen Mikaelian unveil the memorial plaque for the 464 people who died in the floods caused by Typhoon Ondoy (Cyclone Ketsana), which ravaged Northern Luzon on 26-27 September 2009.