Tacloban City Philippines Temple

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Rendering of the Tacloban City Philippines Temple. ©2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

President Russell M. Nelson announced the construction of another temple for the Philippines on October 3, 2021. The Tacloban Philippines Temple will be constructed in the Eastern Visayas region of the country.[1][2]

The Tacloban area, located on the northeastern tip of Leyte Island, was struck by deadly Typhoon Haiyan in November 2013, causing loss of life and homes. Hundreds of Filipino Latter-day Saints joined the broader Church humanitarian efforts to provide relief and rebuild homes.

The Republic of the Philippines is an archipelagic country that consists of around 7,641 islands that are broadly categorized under three main geographical divisions from north to south: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.

Currently operating in the Philippines are the Manila Philippines Temple, the Cebu City Philippines Temple, and the Urdaneta Philippines Temple. The Alabang Philippines Temple (a second temple for the greater Manila area), the Davao Philippines Temple, the Bacolod Philippines Temple, and the Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple are in construction stages. In October 2022, President Nelson announced the construction of two more temples, the Naga Philippines Temple and the Santiago Philippines Temple. In April 2023, he announced the construction of the Iloilo Philippines Temple and the Tuguegarao City Philippines Temple; in October 2023 the Laoag Philippines Temple was also announced.

Since missionary work began in earnest in the Philippines, Church growth there has maintained an accelerated pace. Today, the country is home to nearly 868,000 Latter-day Saints in around 1,300 congregations. A few Filipinos joined the Church in the 1940s and 1950s, but missionary work did not begin in earnest until 1961. After that point, it accelerated quickly. By the end of the decade, the Church had a presence on eight major islands. In 1973 the first stake in the Philippines was organized. The first temple in the Philippines, the Manila Philippines Temple, was dedicated in 1984 by former Church President Gordon B. Hinckley.

Location

The Tacloban Philippines Temple will be built on a 6.99-acre site located at Tacloban Bypass Road Brgy. Utap-Caibaan, Tacloban City, Leyte, Philippines. Plans call for a two-story temple of approximately 21,407 square feet. Also on the site will stand an ancillary building with an arrival center, patron accommodations, and a distribution center.

Groundbreaking Held

Elder Michael B. Strong; his wife, Cristin Strong; and local Church members break ground for the Tacloban City Philippines Temple. ©2025 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the Tacloban City Philippines Temple was held on Saturday, January 18, 2025. Elder Michael B. Strong, Second Counselor in the Philippines Area Presidency, presided at the event. The groundbreaking signals the beginning of the construction of this temple.

In the dedicatory prayer, Elder Strong asked that blessings be poured out among all of God’s children in the Philippines and for all in the temple district to have greater capacity “to act with charity, compassion, patience and kindness towards our neighbors and to go about doing good.”

Elder Strong remarked prior to the dedicatory prayer on the early days of the Church in Tacloban, recalling the first missionaries who arrived in 1968. Their efforts led to the baptism of George Pamin — the first member of the Church in Tacloban — exactly 56 years ago.

"From this first baptism until now, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has continued to grow and become a vital part of the community of Tacloban and the surrounding region," Elder Strong said.[3]


Temples in the Philippines

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