MANILA – Malacañang on Tuesday advised government agencies and offices to avoid holding grand or lavish Christmas parties to show solidarity to those affected by the successive typhoons that ravaged parts of the country in less than a month.
Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin said this is in line with the call of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. to exemplify the spirit of Christmas by helping those affected by the calamities.
“Alinsunod sa panawagan ng ating Pangulo, hinihikayat namin ang lahat ng ahenysa ng pamahalaan na iwasan ang mga marangyang pagdiriwang ngayong Pasko (In accordance with the call of our President, we encourage all government agencies to avoid lavish celebrations this Christmas),” Bersamin said in a statement.
“This call is in solidarity with the millions of our countrymen who continue to grieve over lives, homes, and livelihoods lost during the six typhoons that pummeled us in a span of less than a month.”
Majority of Luzon and parts of the Visayas are reeling from the effects of torrential rains and typhoon-force winds after a record six consecutive typhoons hit the archipelago since October 21.
An official guidance in writing, according to Bersamin, is no longer needed “because we believe in the kindness of our fellow government workers, whom we fully trust can unilaterally adopt austerity in their celebrations.”
Instead, government agencies are urged to donate their savings from scaled-down celebrations to calamity-hit communities.
“The true spirit of Christmas implores us to celebrate with compassion, to share our blessings, and to spread cheer. As a people united by love for our fellow men, we can cast away bleakness as we celebrate in this season of joy,” Bersamin said.
He assured affected Filipinos that the “Christmas spirit will be felt early” through the government’s sustained relief and recovery efforts.
“Tuloy pa rin ang pagdiriwang ng Pasko, kasama ang ating mga kababayang nasalanta ng mga sunod-sunod na kalamidad (Christmas celebration will go on with our compatriots who have been devastated by the series of calamities),” he said. (PNA)