Noy on Yolanda rehab: We’re doing our best

MANILA, Philippines – Faced with public frustration over the progress of rebuilding areas ravaged a year ago today by Super Typhoon Yolanda, President Aquino said yesterday the government is doing its best to speed up the process and make sure everything is done right.

“Sige, murahin niyo na ako, batikusin niyo na ako, pero palagay ko ang gawain natin ay dapat tama (OK, curse me, criticize me, but I believe our job should be done properly),” he told the crowd in Barangay Cogon in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, the area that he decided to visit instead of Tacloban City in Leyte, whose mayor belongs to the opposition and is a relative of former first lady Imelda Marcos.

Tacloban suffered the highest casualty and heavy destruction last year when Yolanda (international name Haiyan) pounded Eastern Visayas.

Aquino said his conscience is clear, in response to criticism that even rehabilitation efforts were fraught with corruption and politicking.

He stood pat against proposals for the government to hand out P40,000 cash to each family displaced by the strongest typhoon to make landfall in recorded history.

Aquino said the proposal would be cheaper to implement as the government would only have to allocate P58.8 billion for the 1.47 million affected families – as against the P85.5 billion needed to complete infrastructure and other permanent housing projects in the affected areas.

The amount is apart from the total P167.8 billion needed for the rehabilitation of all the affected provinces and municipalities identified in the Yolanda master plan. Only P51.9 billion of the amount has so far been released.

He said what the government intends to do is to “build back better” to make sure that every house and structure withstands another super typhoon.

“Para naman sa mga walang sawang binabatikos sa ating bawa’t kilos, ipagpapasa-Diyos ko na lang sila. Baka naman po dumating ang araw pagkalooban sila ng dagdag na kaalaman at kabutihang loob ng Puong Maykapal na sila naman ay tumino (To those who don’t tire of criticizing our every move, God will take care of you. Who knows God Almighty might give them wisdom and good heart so they will straighten up),” Aquino stressed.

The Chief Executive expressed belief the people were just being fed with the wrong information by politicians who see nothing good in his administration. He told Guiuan residents that it would be up to them whether to vote for these politicians in the May 2016 elections.

Aquino also said that he was sure the criticisms would continue, even the next day, that he neglected Tacloban.

Aquino said his decision to visit Guiuan instead of Tacloban City was understandable since the municipality had suffered just as much or even worse. “Guiuan was one of the hardest hit. I’ve been to Tacloban on several occasions. I haven’t been to Guiuan until today,” he said.

“When we visited Guiuan, not a single roof was intact. My question then was: Do we still revive this community or move it entirely?”

Funds enough

In Manila, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad announced the release of P52 billion for the rehabilitation of provinces and municipalities hit by Yolanda.

“The national government has made great strides this past year to help the people affected by Typhoon Yolanda, especially in Leyte and Samar,” Abad said in a press release.

“On our part, we had to ensure there were enough funds to support the rescue and reconstruction efforts and that these funds were released as quickly as possible,” he said.

Abad said the P52 billion was sourced from, among others, the 2012 Calamity Fund and Continuing Appropriations, the 2013 National Budget, the 2013 Calamity Fund and Continuing Appropriations.

The P14.6-billion Supplemental Appropriations, the 2014 National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund, the 2014 national budget and the Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program were also among the sources.

“This amount was released to various national government agencies, government-owned and controlled corporations and local government units to fund their respective relief and rehabilitation programs and projects,” he said.

“The funding was grouped according to the four main clusters as consolidated under the Yolanda Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program: infrastructure, social services, livelihood and resettlement,” Abad disclosed.

The biggest share (P6.06 billion) went to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to augment its Quick Response Fund and to support its feeding program.

The Department of Education (DepEd) had the second biggest allocation with P4.96 billion for the repair of classrooms and the acquisition of new school seats. The amount also covered requirements for the rebuilding of schoolhouses damaged during the Bohol earthquake.

“Though a lot of work still needs to be done, we are on the right track with President Aquino recently signing the master plan. This is our commitment to help the Yolanda-affected cities and municipalities not only to rebuild but to build back better,” Abad said.

Schoolhouses ready

Education Secretary Armin Luistro said construction of classrooms in affected areas would be completed next school year.

In a statement, DepEd said it is now implementing the fourth and final phase of its “framework for recovery and rehabilitation,” which includes the repair of more than 17,000 damaged classrooms, construction of new classrooms and distribution of school furniture.

It said that more than half of the targeted 2,313 new classrooms are under construction.

On Thursday, the DepEd chief said that the new classrooms would be tougher and more resilient.

“(With the help of) mapping, schools in unsafe zones can be identified. Schools in disaster prone areas will be relocated,” he said in a radio interview.

Luistro said that DepEd has also allocated resources for 6.37 million copies of learning materials and textbooks, and computer packages for 134 schools that lost computers during the typhoon.

He said they are also providing psychosocial intervention, which has covered about 2,500 personnel and 1.8 million students at the moment.

“At the end of the day, disaster preparedness is about people. It is about local government working with the local community and institutions to ensure that this is part of our culture and part of our everyday life,” said Luistro.

“It is not only about structures; it is not only about coordination. It is about ensuring that people are prepared not only with respect to skills, but also with respect to a heart that allows them to go beyond themselves – to take care of others: before, during, and after a disaster,” he added.

No more tents

While schoolhouses are slowly emerging in ravaged areas, tents and makeshift shelters are disappearing as more sturdy homes are being constructed, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said.

In June 2014, there were more than 3,200 families staying in tents and makeshift houses in Leyte and Samar. Now, most of them had already been moved to safer “transitional” shelters, she said.

The DSWD, in partnership with the International Organization for Migration, has been relocating more than a hundred families in batches to the Badato Transitional Site and the Villa Sophia Permanent Relocation Site. The transfers were done on Oct. 30 and Nov. 3. The last batch would be moved today, the DSWD said.

Soliman also reported that there are no more families staying in tents in Guiuan, Eastern Samar.

In a document obtained by The STAR, the Office of the Presidential Assistant on Recovery and Rehabilitation (OPARR) said a total of 312 facilities – municipal halls, civic centers and public markets – were damaged by Yolanda. The report was dated Oct. 30, 2014.

Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II said a well-crafted disaster preparedness plan of the local government protected Guiuan residents from the wrath of Yolanda.

“When Yolanda first hit Guiuan, you were floored but a year after we can see how you managed to get back on your feet and that’s what’s important,” Roxas said.

Roxas urged Samarenos to take Yolanda as a learning experience in disaster preparedness.

He said the most important part of the recovery process is “placing your trust in the importance of cooperation,” he said.

“Tragedy and calamity bring out the worst in most people. But they also bring out the best in some,” he added, and that Guiuan proved it was always ready.

Prayers

Meanwhile, Vice President Jejomar Binay said Filipinos should continue praying for the survivors of Yolanda even as he assured affected families they would soon have new homes.

Binay chairs the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC).

“It has been a year since Typhoon Yolanda cut a wide path of destruction in the Visayas. Many of our countrymen are still suffering from the loss of their loved ones, homes and properties,” Binay said in a statement.

“Let us continue to pray for them and assure them that they are not alone in their struggle to rebuild their lives,” he said.

Binay said the Aquino government is doing its best to alleviate the pain of the survivors and help them regain their normal lives.

He said the housing sector has already rolled out projects to provide shelter for the affected families.

“We intend to build them homes that are not just resilient from natural calamities but also promote living with dignity. We intend to foster new communities that will encourage them to dream, hope and strive again for a better life,” he said. With Janvic Mateo, Kathleen Martin, Helen Flores, Rainier Allan Ronda, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star)