Typhoon Haiyan survivors enter a Catholic cathedral, where crowds of homeless people are squatting in Tacloban, Philippines, before church mass on Sunday Nov. 17, 2013. Villagers stranded by last week's Typhoon Haiyan scramble for aid from a U.S. Navy Sea Hawk helicopter from the U.S. aircraft carrier USS George Washington in the coastal town of Tanawan, central Philippines Sunday, Nov. 17. TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) - President Benigno Aquino III said Sunday that he will stay in typhoon-battered Leyte province until he sees more progress in the aid effort following complaints from survivors that they have yet to receive proper help. Aquino is expected to set up camp in Tacloban, the capital of hardest-hit Leyte province, but it is not clear where he will find suitable accommodations amid the ruins. Virtually every building in the city was damaged or destroyed by the Nov. 8 Typhoon Haiyan, which killed 3,974 people, according to the latest official count released Sunday. The storm left about 1,200 people missing. Electricity is available only in small pockets through diesel generators. There is no running water, and people must manage with water supplied by tankers. Many don't even have that. Speaking to reporters during a visit to Tacloban, Aquino said that while there has been some progress in the aid effort, it is not enough. A massive effort by the international community, which has donated aid and cash worth more than $248 million, is beginning to show improvements on the ground. We really want to ease the burden of everybody as soon as possible. As long as I don't see any more improvements, we'll stay here," Aquino said, referring to his official team. Presidential spokesman Ricky Carandang said Aquino wanted to ensure that the distribution of relief goods goes on smoothly and power is restored soon in this city of 220,000 people. This is not the first time Aquino has taken a hands-on approach to a crisis. When Muslim rebels occupied fishing villages outside Zamboanga in the south in September, he set up a camp in the regional military headquarters in the city to oversee the offensive against the insurgents. The move won him wide praise. Last month, the 53-year-old bachelor president slept overnight in an army tent to reassure jittery residents of a central town that was devastated by a magnitude-7.3 earthquake. Earlier in the day, thousands of Filipinos, many homeless and grieving, flocked to dozens of churches across the region for their first Sunday Mass since the typhoon. More than 80 percent of the 90 million people in the Philippines are Roman Catholic, a legacy of its history of Spanish colonial rule. Others came to pray for the souls of the departed. One such service was held by the Rev. Amadero Alvero at his half-destroyed Santo Nino church, a landmark of Tacloban. Its windows were blown out, and winds snapped at a silver cross on top of its steeple, which hangs upside down. The seawater flooded much of the first floor of the compound. In Hong Kong, home to 133,000 Filipinos, volunteers outside one church were collecting food, medicine, blankets and clothing to send to the affected region. Most of Filipinos working in the city are low-paid domestic workers. "We can't really afford to give much money, but we can help them by praying," said Jovie Tamayo, 32, who is from central Iloilo province. The roof of her family's house was ripped off in the storm, but her family members were uninjured.