Bohol in need of donors Bishop calls on media for help in getting aid

TAGBILARAN CITY, Philippines - — Bishop Leonardo Medroso, of the Bohol Diocese, has asked for help from the media in drawing donors for assistance in rehabilitation of Bohol province that was ravaged by the 7.2-magnitude earthquake last Oct. 15.

Medroso said Bohol province and the church have been almost forgotten, especially in the media, as their much-needed assistance has been sidelined with the media apparently focusing only on massive relief operations for typhoon victims in Leyte.

Citing the slow pace in assistance, or even the lack of it, for the church in Bohol, the prelate appealed to the media to do something to make known that the church and the province are in dire need of help now.

"Gamay ra ang gihatag sa media. Gamay ra sab ang mosulod sa Bohol," Medroso told a radio station, in an interview here.

Bohol needs the help of the media because the province still lacks shelter for the quake victims, and "we need generous donors" to help rebuild the ruined churches here.

Some priests now continue to hold Masses outside the centuries-old churches that were either totally razed to the ground or partly collapsed after the tremor.

The bishop cited the situation of Dauis church where Masses are still celebrated beside the ruins of the centuries-old edifice made of limestone.

Other centuries-old churches in the towns of Maribojoc, Loon and Clarin have been declared totally damaged when the earthquake razed these to the ground. Similar centuries-old churches in Loboc, Loay, Baclayon, Dauis, Cortes, Calape and Tubigon towns were all partially damaged by the earthquake.  (FREEMAN)