Who are the disaster survivors who will meet, dine with Pope Francis?

Who will be the survivors of last year's magnitude-7.2 quake and super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) to dine with Pope Francis when he visits the Philippines in January?

The Palo archdiocese in Leyte is now screening five such prospective survivors, Borongan Bishop Crispin Varquez told Church-run Radio Veritas.

Varquez said there will be 30 survivors who will meet the Pope in person – five from each calamity-hit diocese.

“May lima from our diocese, yung victims ng Yolanda. Thirty lahat, na-divide ang 30 sa... tigli-limang representative kada Diocese. Mayroon din na victims from Bohol yung sa biktima ng earthquake,” he said.

Earlier, Tagbiliran Bishop Leonardo Medroso said five survivors are to dine with the Pope.

A separate article on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site noted Medroso is hoping the pope will visit Bohol “even just for one or two hours to counsel our people.”

On the other hand, it added Palo Archbishop John Du had said no eminent people would be invited to the simple lunch.

Pope Francis is due to visit the Philippines from Jan. 15 to 19.

On Oct. 15 last year, a magnitude-7.2 quake devastated Bohol. Yolanda pounded the Visayas last Nov. 8, leaving more than 6,000 dead. — Joel Locsin /LBG, GMA News