SUMMARY
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Dear Pope Francis,
It was a lot of fixing, your Holiness; and, I guess, millions of pesos were spent. But I don’t blame you for these expenses.
Window dressing
Last December, dozens of flights were delayed and cancelled due to, possibly, incompetent services of both airlines and the airports. A lot of Filipinos suffered the chaos; most of them were unable to be with their families on the eve of Christmas.
Every day, the people of Manila have to endure heavy traffic. Even celebrity Tennis Player Andy Murray suffered the same fate when he went here for a tournament. Add to the traffic are the unpleasant scenes of paupers, litter, and squatter areas.
You will experience getting stuck in traffic and be disturbed by the unpleasant and harsh realities. But know that I don’t want you to suffer the glitches we have here. Who could ever wish you havoc Your Holiness?
‘You will not see most of us’
I will not see you. And probably, more than half of the Filipinos Catholics will not see their Pope.
You will not see the people living in squatter areas in Pasig and some areas of Metro Manila. You will not see the man sitting at the gates of Quiapo Church, waiting for alms. You will not most of the beggars eating spoiled food picked from the garbage. But I hope you do.
On the second day of your trip, you will be talking with top officials of the Philippines. You will meet families in the Mall of Asia Arena.
Most of those who want to see you are miles away from Manila and Tacloban. I am one of them, but I live 12-hours away from Manila. I just can’t afford to travel all the way to Manila.
‘Our faith still stands still’
But we understand you cannot touch us all. We wouldn’t want to tire you.
We just simply want to say that our government officials should be the first show to us the mercy and compassion you want to extend to us.
Our faith still stands, with God, and with you. Thank you for caring about Filipinos. We need it badly.-Rappler.com
Raymon Dullana is the Editor in Chief of The CSU Communicator, the official student publication of Cagayan State University-Andrews Campus. He studies Business Administration majoring in Management Accounting.
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