Pope Leo XIV on Sunday expressed his sympathy for the victims of Typhoon Tino, which devastated several parts of the Philippines last week.
“I express my closeness to the people of the Philippines who have been hit by a violent typhoon: I pray for the deceased and their families, as well as for the injured and displaced,” the pontiff said in a post on X.
According to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD), Typhoon Tino left 224 people dead, with the highest number of fatalities recorded in Cebu at 158. A total of 109 individuals remain missing—57 in Cebu, 42 in Negros Occidental, and 10 in Negros Oriental.
The OCD also reported 526 injured: 454 in Cebu province, 41 in Leyte, 28 in Negros Occidental, two in Surigao del Norte, and one in Surigao del Sur.
Earlier, President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. placed the country under a yearlong state of national calamity upon the recommendation of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
Meanwhile, two deaths have been reported due to Super Typhoon Uwan’s onslaught—one in Catanduanes and another in Catbalogan, Samar.