TACLOBAN CITY- The Tzu Chi Foundation continues to provide assistance to the victims of Yolanda here in Tacloban, over eight months after it was devastated by supertyphoon Yolanda.

After providing temporary livelihood through its cash-for-work program, the Buddhist foundation is now on the giving of sacks of rice to the typhoon survivors.
It was learned from Kalam Chan, a volunteer of the Tzu Chi Foundation, since last month, they have been distributing 20 kilograms of rice to more than 50,000 storm survivors from the cities of Ormoc and Tacloban.The distribution of sacks of rice to the families who survived the onslaught of Yolanda was their way of providing relief to them, Chan said.

He also said that the Tzu Chi Foundation also plans to provide sacks of rice to the nearby towns of Palo and Tanauan, two areas also hard-hit by Yolanda.
The “complications” on the listing of families was the reason why their distribution of sacks of rice to these towns is being delayed, Chan said.
Meantime, survivors are to expect shelter kits from the Tzu Chi Foundation in the next few months, he said. (WILMA JOY B. ESPINOSA, LNU-Intern)

TACLOBAN CITY- No casualties and no extensive damage of properties and agriculture were reported when a 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit supertyphoon Yolanda-devastated communities in Leyte and Southern Leyte on July 25, local disaster officials say. According to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), the quake occurred at 7:57 a.m. and was tectonic in origin and had a depth of six kilometers, with the epicenter at 8 kilometers southwest of Hinundayan, Southern Leyte.

The source of the quake was traced to the Philippine Fault Zone Leyte Segment. Southern Leyte Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office has reported that after the quake, minor cracks were found in some school buildings like the San Juan National High School, Basak Elementary School, Bobon Elementary School in the town of San Juan. “No injuries, no casualties, and no damage in infrastructure and agriculture were also reported,” it added.

In Hinundayan, minor cracks were visible in its Municipal Gymnasium and in some houses in Brgy. Plaridel, while in Saint Bernard, minor cracks were visible in its Central Elementary School, Tourism Office,and in Guinsaugon National High School.Southern Leyte Governor Roger Mercado, in his social media account,posted that at least 30 families in the towns of Hinundayan, San Juan,and St. Bernard, which are prone to landslides, were directed for forced evacuation while suspension of classes were also ordered. About 50 patients were also evacuated from the Anahawan District Hospital after “big cracks” appeared on the hospital’s walls, Mercado added.
The tremor was also felt in Hinunangan and St. Bernard,Southern Leyte, intensity VI (very strong); Tacloban city, intensity IV; Palo, Leyte, intensity III; Cebu city, Cebu City, Talisay City, Surigao City, intensity II ; and Lapu Lapu City, intensity I. (RONALD O.REYES)

PALO Leyte- With the Vatican now confirming on the visit of Pope Francis, local officials of this town are now all agog and expressed hope that the Holy Father will eventually hold his Mass on this historic town.

Palo town Mayor Remedios “Matin” Petilla said that with the huge of people, some could be coming outside the region and from other countries, their town has available areas to accommodate the faithful expected to see and attend the Holy Father saying the Mass. Petilla said that the 18 hectare Government Center, particularly along the Boy Scout Monument, could accommodate hundreds of thousands of people during the Pope’s visit.

The Vatican had already announced that the Pope will be coming to the Philippines on January 15 to 19, 2015 and expressed his interest to see victims of supertyphoon Yolanda. Eastern Visayas was the hardest hit area of the world’s strongest typhoon to make landfall on November 8, 2013.
Petilla said that if Palo would be chosen as the site for the Papal Mass, the families living in bunk houses along the area would be moved out and transferred to their permanent resettlement.

Aside from the Government Center located at Barangay Candahug, the other sites being considered for the Papal Mass are the port area and an area near the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport, both in Tacloban, the “ground zero” of Yolanda. Mayor Petilla said that her hope that Palo would be chosen is based on reason that the town is where the cathedral is located. It was learned that the Pope has expressed his intention to visit the cathedral that sustained major damages due to the supertyphoon.
Also, it is in their town that a building for the poor and orphans are to be constructed of which the Pope. (LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA)