High costs keeping home repairs at bay in Leyte

NAGA CITY—They have the manpower and the willingness to work in rebuilding houses in Leyte but they lack construction materials, Army engineers in Southern Luzon said.

The 565 Engineering Battalion, under the 9th Infantry Division based in Bicol and which has been involved in clearing roads of debris and rebuilding houses in Leyte that were destroyed by Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” now lacks funds to purchase housing materials since most hardware stores in the storm-ravaged areas have raised their prices to almost double their pretyphoon level.

Lt. Col. Bernard Bautista, commanding officer of the engineering battalion, said on the phone on Saturday that his soldiers were still waiting for more construction materials to be delivered from the national government to start rebuilding houses that were destroyed in Leyte.

P250 more

The soldiers want to start the reconstruction in Tanauan town, where the engineering battalion has temporarily set up a base.

Victor Salubon, 49, a sanitary inspector and resident of Tanauan, who was interviewed in the town last week, said he could not afford the materials being sold by the local hardware store that he needed to rebuild his house.

He said a 12-foot steel cable was being sold for P650 when it used to cost only around P400.

He said the high cost of construction materials has made it next to impossible for many residents in storm-ravaged areas in Leyte to repair their houses.