Storm evacuees not keen on moving to SRP Tent City, ask for extension

Large Red Cross tents are waiting for them, but several typhoon Yolanda evacuees staying at the Tinago barangay sports complex in Cebu City are reluctant to transfer.

They worry about the isolated location in the South Road Properties (SRP) far from jeepney routes, the heat and mud when it rains.

A smiling Nora Uy, 43, from Tacloban city said they were briefed about Tent City, but she and her family prefer to stay in the gym.

“Diri amung gipili kay taas ug atop unya mas duol sa mga sakyanan. (We chose to stay here because the gym is more spacious and near to public transportation,” she told Cebu Daily News.

Tent City will officially open today with newly installed communal toilets, water pipes and lights to house 38 families  or 128 individuals from the Tinago gym, the last evacuation center accommodating out-of-town storm survivors in Cebu City.

The tents mounted by the Red Cross in a one-hectare lot of the SRP can shelter 50 families.

After a pulong-pulong last night, only two families said they would transfer and ten individuals said they were willing to check out the facilities at SRP.
Barangay Tinago captain Joel Garganera said he was willing to let the evacuees stay longer.

“The evacuees have been through as lot. To give them a deadline…. (would be difficult) As long as they’re here, I will be here for them”
“The original plan was to let them stay until December 31, but since we already have the Tent City, I advised those who would stay here longer to just transfer to the Tent City” he said.
Some families like Uy just need a few more days of sanctuary.
Uy and her partner 50-year-old partner Edison and their three children have boat tickets to return to Tacloban on Christmas evening at 10 p.m. Sponsors paid for their ticket.
Virgie Paccio of the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS) said some evacuees have bargained to stay at the gym till December 30.
Mark Lapiña, 19, his brother Julbert, 20, and cousin Makmak, 22 said they don’t want to move to the Tent City because of the heat.
They also said they don’t want to go back yet to Tacloban because the place reeks of the stench of dead bodies.
Neither does Noel Sabusap, 45, and his wife Josephine, want to transfer.
“Dili mi didto oy. Kung mo uwan, mo lapok” ( We don’t like it there at SRP. When it rains, the grounds turn muddy) said Noel.
“Wala sa’y sakyanan” (There are no vehicles), echoed Josephine.
The couple said they would just wait until the last day that barangay Tinago would host them.
“Kung unsa’y kataposn, amung huwaton. Paminaw nako wala’y mu balhin.” said Josephine. (I think no one wants to transfer either.)
Noel said the couple would soon be traveling to Southern Leyte to start a new life there and find a house to rent. Their children are in Tacloban with their grandmother.
Another factor that discourages evacuees about the SRP could be its location near the sea, said social worker Piccio.
She said the coast may remind them of the ordeal they just went through when supertyphoon Yolanda brought six-meter wave surges.
Or the attraction of the gym could be the good supply of food.
WELL FED
Food served daily at the center is provided by “private companies, schools, and evangelical churches,” said Piccio.
When the center first opened, the Dept. of Social Work and Development assured it would take care of  meals, but as it turned out, the private sector took on the role of providing food.
According to Piccio, an ideal breakfast is 2 chorizo links, 2 chicken hotdogs, 1 egg, and 4 pieces of puso or rice pouches.
Eddison Canusa, an evacuee, said they were well fed in the Tinago gym and that he and his cousins were gaining weight.
Yesterday, a private organization brought over eight sacks of rice, three  boxes of sardines, four  boxes of noodles, and two boxes of powdered milk sachets.
Roel Rañin, 45, and his wife, said they decided to return to Tacloban  on Christmas evening. Roel said he wants to bring their children back to Tacloban, then return to Cebu to find a job as a family driver.
For the meantime, the gym is their half-way home.
According to Ester Concha, DSWS head, the 38 families in Tinago gym will be moved to the SRP Tent city which has been developed by the city government and the Philippine Red Cross.
“The Tinago gym will be closed by  December 21 because it will be used by the barangay,” Concha said.
She said some of the home-based evacuees staying with  relatives in Cebu may also go to the SRP site which is called the Family Rehabilitation Center.  It was supposed to open last Dec. 6 yet.
Concha said there are over 3,000 home-based individual evacuees or 528 families in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Talisay.
SRP Management Office head Roberto “Bu” Varquez said they completed installing water and electric utilities at the site.
Gravel was placed on top of the soil to prevent muddy ground during rains.
Four other evacuation centers in the city have closed after survivors returned to Leyte or joined relatives in Manila or other parts of the country.
The four are  Cogon Ramos Sports Complex, Guadalupe Sports Complex, San Nicolas Gym and Capitol Parish Gym.