Vol. 35
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No.314 No. 314
2 SECTIONS
December 26, 2021 8 PAGES
18 .00
IN MET R MANILAO
HEAD HEAD HEADSenator Manny PacPac-
quiao, who is eyeing the presidency in 2022, is warmly welcomed by hio is eyeing the presidency in 2022, is warmly welcomed by o is eyeing the presidency in 2022, is warmly welcomed by his supporters at Brgy. Payatas, Quezon City during a sortie. Manny is supporters at Brgy. Payatas, Quezon City during a sortie. Manny s supporters at Brgy. Payatas, Quezon City during a sortie. Manny Palmero
‘NAMAMASKO PO.’ Children display
a sign with Christmas greetings as they ask for alms along a highway in Surigao City, Surigao del Norte province on December 25, over a week after Super Typhoon Odette devastated the province and most of Visayas and Mindanao. Ferdinandh CABRERA / AFP
NDRRMC DEATH TOLL NOW AT 367 NEWS / 2A
$12-m Xmas gift from UN P600m from world body’s disaster fund to boost PH ‘Odette’ aid
Church holds Christmas Mass with soaked floor n By RON LOPEZ, AGENCE-FRANCE PRESSE ALEGRIA, Surigao del Norte -- Father Ricardo Virtudazo stands in a pool of water
in his typhoon-hit church in the southern Philippines delivering Christmas Day mass to dozens of devotees whose wishes this year were for new roofs, food and fine weather. More than a week after Typhoon Odette cut a
swathe through the archipelago, killing nearly 400 people and leaving hundreds of thousands homeless, survivors clung to family and faith after their homes—and planned festivities—were wiped out.
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VATICAN CITY— Pope Francis on Saturday urged dialogue on both personal and political levels as he celebrated a second Christmas while billions around the world again labored under the shadow of a coronavirus pandemic that was pushing people into isolation. In his traditional Urbi and Orbi Christmas Day message to the faithful gathered in St.
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Personal, political dialogue must under COVID—Pope
COVID-19 PH A
Peter’s Square at the Vatican, the pontiff also deplored that the “immense tragedies” in Syria, Yemen and Iraq were “being passed over in silence” and cautioned against fresh violence in the simmering conflict in Ukraine. “In this time of pandemic... Our capacity for social relationships is sorely tried; there is a growing tendency to
WORSHIP THE SAVIOR.
Pope Francis kisses a figurine of baby Jesus during the Christmas Eve mass at St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, on December 24. AFP
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N A Christmas gift of sorts, the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund has released $12 million (about P600 million) in humanitarian assistance to help the Philippine government-led recovery efforts of communities severely affected by Typhoon Odette.
“I am releasing $12 million from @UNCERF to help deliver urgent humanitarian assistance to support the Government-led response to Super #TyphoonRai (#OdettePH) in the #Philippines,” Martin Griffiths, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said in a Twitter post on Friday.
STILL FAITHFUL. Catholic faithful attend Christmas Mass in their destroyed church in Alegria, Surigao del Norte province on December 25, more than a week after Super Typhoon Odette devastated the province. Ferdinandh Cabrera / AFP
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‘Allah save them’: 37 dead in Bangladesh ferry blaze WORLD | 3A
200m jabs seen before yearend; case tally up NEWS | 2A
BBM vows to double ‘Odette’ storm relief NEWS | 2A