Church donates 7-hectare relocation site in Leyte

MANILA, Philippines - The Catholic Church in Leyte has donated some seven hectares of property to be used as relocation sites for survivors of supertyphoon Yolanda.

Palo Archbishop John Du said that three hectares donated by the Archdiocese of Palo will be managed by the national government to build a housing project while the remaining four hectares will be handled by the Church and non-government organizations.

The prelate said that one of the concerns in building the relocation site is the lack of manpower because majority of the residents are also busy building their own shelters.

The archbishop, however, thanked Pagadian Bishop Antonieto Cabajar, the Diocese of Tagum and Archdiocese of Cagayan de Oro for sending carpenters and laborers to Leyte to help in the construction of houses.

"Ang problema namin ngayon ay manpower. Kulang ang mga karpintero.  I'm very thankful sa mga taga Pagadian, si Bishop Cabajar. Nagpadala dito ng five batches of carpenters to take care of the carpentry works sa mga houses. And also Davao del Sur, also sa Cagayan in doing some of the works.

"They sent manpower for the repair and relocation. Maganda ang cooperation. So more or less, six months, parang at least very few na lang yung talagang hindi pa na-repair," Archbishop Du said.