Survivors in Tacloban tents to be moved
TACLOBAN CITY—About 1,000 people still staying in donated tents in the prohibited 40-meter zone from the shore in the city’s 12 barangays (villages) will be transferred to their temporary shelters next month.
The families—all survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) which pummeled the city more than a year ago—had already been informed about the plan since April, said Maria Lagman, head of the housing and planning office.
They would be relocated to “bahay kubo” (nipa huts) shelters in New Kawayan, a northern village more than 12 kilometers away from the city center. “Actually, we are supposed to start moving these families this month, but they requested it to next month instead,” Lagman said.
Many of them are still occupying tents donated by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in danger zones in 12 barangays, or 40 meters from the Cancabato Bay.
“They are the priority because four to five meters of storm surge hit these villages. They are the most vulnerable,” Lagman said.
With the expected onset of rain next month, the families need to be provided with more decent houses, she added.
Appeal
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has appealed to local government units to distribute the emergency shelter assistance (ESA) to families who survived the typhoon.
If they will dilly-dally in the release of the funds until June 30, it might be affected by elections ban, said Nestor Ramos, DSWD regional director, in an interview. The country will hold a presidential election on May 9, 2016.
“I am appealing to the local government units to complete all documents and if they already received ESA funds, they should release it immediately to recipients. If it won’t be released after June 30 or early July, it will be affected by election ban on Oct. 30,” Ramos said.
Political purposes
Felicisimo Embalsado, assistant regional director of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), however, said his office had yet to be informed of the calendar of activities for the elections, including the period on prohibition like releases of government funds.
“It is the Comelec en banc which sets the calendar of activities. But generally, the ban applies three months before the election and one month after the elections,” Embalsado said.
However, he agreed with the DSWD regional director on the early of the ESA funds to the beneficiaries to avoid the money being used for political purpose.
“This might be used by the candidates during the elections. The voter’s preference might be influenced by the one giving the assistance,” Embalsado said.
This is the second time that the DSWD issued an appeal to the LGUs to finish the distribution of the shelter assistance. It first issued an April deadline which was not accomplished.
Since the distribution of the ESA to families whose houses were either partially or totally washed away due to Yolanda in September, only 20 of the 63 LGUs in the typhoon-hit areas have distributed the assistance. Twelve of the areas are in Leyte, including Tacloban, and four each in Samar and Eastern Samar provinces.
A family whose house was totally destroyed stands to receive P30,000 for ESA and P10,000 for those whose house was damaged.
Not entitled to receive are those living in so-called danger zone areas and government
employees receiving salaries of at least P15,000.
Hesitant
For Eastern Visayas, P6 billion was allocated for ESA with P1.8 billion released to more than 121,000 families.
At present, more than 200 families in Tacloban, whose houses were destroyed by Yolanda are now living in New Kawayan, one of the temporary sites identified by the city government. Lagman could not say when the construction of houses would resume and how much the city government would allocate for the project.
Though they understand the move of the city government, the residents appeared to be hesitant in leaving their place.
“We don’t own the land, but if ever they will ask us to move out, they should give us at least a decent shelter. Right now, my family still lives under a tent. We don’t have money to repair our house, reason why up to this time, we could not repair our house,” said Alma Trinidad, 47, who has three children.
Trinidad lives in Barangay 52, one of the 12 villages in the Old Road Sagkahan District.
