Catholic Church plans to build over 500 typhoon-resilient houses in areas under the Archdiocese of Palo

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MANILA — A Catholic priest has reported that over 500 residential units will be constructed in areas under the Archdiocese of Palo, Leyte which was hit by super typhoon “Yolanda” last November.

Fr. Edu Gariguez, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines National Secretariat for Social Action Justice and Peace (CBCP-NASSA), said the building of the houses is part of the Catholic Church’s rehabilitation program in communities affected by the typhoon.

“…We plan to build additional 500 houses in Palo, Leyte. In the other nine dioceses CBCP-NASSA is serving, the construction of typhoon-resilient houses takes priority,” he said in an article posted on the CBCP news website.

Gariguez added that these projects and programs for the nine dioceses heavily hit by “Yolanda” are included in CBCP-NASSA’s second urgent appeal to Caritas International.

He reported that CBCP-NASSA has received donations amounting to 9.7 million euros (roughly, P600 million) from Caritas International which the Church intends to use to fund various programs for Yolanda survivors for the whole year.

Caritas International had previously given to CBCP-NASSA, in its first urgent appeal to the organization, a fund of 5.6 million euros, which were utilized in the relief operations.