The Bishops' Conference has collected to date 7.7 million US dollars in donations to help the reconstruction of the areas devastated by the typhoon. "Every single peso - says the Executive Secretary of the Secretariat for the social activities of the Church - will be monitored from beginning to end".

Manila (AsiaNews/CBCP) - The Catholic Church in the Philippines has raised 7.7 million US dollars to help rebuild areas devastated by Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) , and these funds "will be handled with the greatest possible transparency. All donations will be monitored from beginning to end, so that every single peso goes where it is needed", says Fr. Edu Gariguez , executive secretary of the National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace (NASSA) which coordinates the social and charitable activities of the Filipino bishops' conference.

All donations to the Church for the rescue operation, said Fr . Gariguez, "have strict and efficient accounting mechanisms and processes. Foreign companies that follow international standards for the management of the funds, will monitor our work. Finally, we will publish detailed reports on each project".

Haiyan / Yolanda hit the Visayas islands (central Philippines) on November 8, 2013, affecting at least 11 million people.  It will take at least eight billion dollars to restore the damaged areas to full normalcy. There are still more than 1,700 people lost or missing, the death toll has exceeded 5 thousand people, although President Aquino has insisted the figures be contained after initial estimates of more than 10 thousand victims.  This data, the head of state claims, was the result of the emotional reaction to the tragedy and the real number of deaths does not exceed 2,500.

Moreover, the extent of the territory, its fragmentation and difficulties in reaching some areas have been a serious obstacle to rebuilding operations. Almost 11 million inhabitants suffered damage or losses of varying degrees, scattered among 574 municipalities and different cities. PIME (Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions) has launched a fundraising campaign to help the survivors.

 

• PHILIPPINES
• catholic
• church
• funds
• yolanda
• typhoon
• damage
• transparency