january 13-19, 2014 layout

VOL. 14 NO. 49 ORMOC CITY P 15.00 at the newsstands JANUARY 13-19, 2014 Website address: www.evmailnews.com For feedback/i nquiries: e-mail ormocnews22@yaho o.com.ph B Y JHAY G ASPAR 20,000 turnout for Tzu Chi’s thanksgiving, blessing rites SEE TZU CHI P. 8 • CEO thanks Lucy for bringing them to Ormoc • Thanks Mayor Codilla and wife for lending their trucks for their T acloban relief operations RTR Medical Foundation is No. 5 in recent Nursing exams NEW OFFICE ADDRESS: HERMOSILLA DRIVE, ORMOC CITY Because landlines have not been restored yet, contact us at: 0916-493-8704 (Elvie); 0921-211- 9603 (Rosenda); 0918-923-4408 (Lalaine). Email: [email protected] and [email protected] CANDLE-LIGHTI NG FOR PEACE AND UNITY. Photo above shows the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation and a jam- packed Super dome in the candle lighitng ceremony. Right, the attendees hold hand in a song for unity B Y L ALAINE M. JIMENEA OVER 20,000 Ormocanons attended Tzu Chi Founda- tion’s 2013 Year End Bless- ing and Prayer Vigil at Or- moc City Superdome on January 17. Attendees from all over Ormoc, with or without invi- tation, were eager and early in the venue. Some even arrived 3 AM for the morning session, saying they weren’t able to receive Tzu Chi’s nancial assistance and hoped they would be giving out money that day. It turned out to be a prayer vigil, not another wave of cash distribution. To recall, the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation distrib- uted relief assistance to 10,000 Ormocanons in 9 barangays, including cash of P 8,000.00, P 12,000.00 and P 15,000.00 to each beneciary, depending on the household size. For Ormoc alone, the Buddhist foundation poure d in P 120,0 00,000 .00 in cash assistance aside from its cash-for-work program in Tacloban City where a victim gets P 500.00 a day to clean up the city. When told by the vol- unteers that the event was a mere thanksgiving, most of the people chose to remain and joined the thanksgiving activ- ity. The turnout was huge that the Buddhist Tzu Chi Founda- tion expanded their sessions into three batches, instead of just two. A “by inv itat ion” affair, they accommodated those with no invitations who waited outside the venue and never left. It was learned that 20,000 invitations were released but more than 20,000 attended. Part of the Tzu Chi thanksgiving session was a short video showing how the foundation raised funds from 44 countries for Yolanda victims. It showed how Tzu Chi volun- teers from all over the world mobilizes to “better people’s lives” especially in times of crisis and disasters. That is what the Tzu Chi foundation has been doing for 47 years, it was further learned. Alfred Lee, CEO of Tzu Chi Philippines, expressed his thanks to Congresswoman Lucy Torres-Gomez as the rst government ofcial to sit in with them in a meeting. He recalled how Cong. Lucy ap- pealed, “Please help Ormoc” in that meeting. “Mao nang naabut mi diri”, said the Lee who comes from Southern Leyte. Initially, the foundation was bent on giving relief to Tacloban only but was per- “WHEN THE water subsided, my concern was to nd the notice of admission. We couldn’t nd it. Two days later, we found it as we tried to clean my room. It was very wet and torn, practi- cally useless. I was thinking, how could I take the nursing board”, said Loren Banario, 20, one of the nursing board passers of the Despite being badly battered by Y olanda, 95 of its graduates hurdled the December 2013 Nursing Board Exams. RTRMF was ranked 5th among top 10 medical colleges with most passers, Loren among them. A resident of San Jose, she s aid the family decided to stay put in their house when Typhoon Yol anda was announced, never thinking

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