Miracle that Bacolod has been Spared

--TOP officials of Negros Occidental and Bacolod City enjoined their constituents to come together in prayers and attend a thanksgiving mass as Typhoon Yolanda spared the province and the city from devastation.

Public storm warning signal number 4 was raised in northern Negros Occidental, including Bacolod, but the so-called super typhoon did not make a landfall in Negros.

Yolanda made its fourth landfall in Bantayan Island, Cebu, skipped Negros Occidental, then made its fifth landfall in Concepcion, Iloilo.

However, the hardest-hit in the province are the northern cities of Sagay, Cadiz, and Escalante and towns of Toboso and Calatrava towns.

Negros Occidental Governor Alfredo Marañon Jr. called on Negrenses Friday to continue their prayers.

The governor also appealed to affected families staying in different evacuation centers not to leave unless advised by authorities.

Puentevella said it has been a miracle that Bacolod has been spared by the worst effects of Typhoon Yolanda.

The thanksgiving mass of the City Government will be held at 8 a.m. Saturday.

“It’s a miracle, the power of prayer worked,” the mayor said.

Moreover, Puentevella also called for more relief goods for the displaced city residents.

He said the City Government needs assistance from the private sector, civic groups and individuals to supplement the relief supplies they procured.

The mayor said that among those needed are ready-to-eat foods, blankets, sleeping mats, medicines, clothing and drinking water. 

--Bacolod Mayor Monico Puentevella said the city had been spared from greater damage that could have been caused by the storm.

He said it was “unexplainable” that Yolanda seemed to have split around Bacolod contrary to earlier forecasts, which showed that the city was on the path of the storm’s full force.

“We have to be thankful for what can be described only as a miracle,” Puentevella said as he pointed out that City Hall had been preparing for massive evacuations since this is the first time in recent years that Bacolod had been placed under Storm Signal No. 4.