INQUIRER FILE PHOTOS
MANILA, Philippines – At least two international groups have allegedly denied saying that the bunkhouses being built for survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” were either overpriced or substandard as reported in the media, Social Welfare Secretary Dink Soliman said on Wednesday.
Soliman said the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) made it clear that such report did not come from them.
The IOM, she said, specifically made this clear during the “shelter cluster” meeting Tuesday.
Soliman said the IOM is a co-convenor of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) on Camp Coordination and Camp Management, which was allegedly the source of such media reports.
“Kinaka-clarify nila (IOM) na wala silang sinasabi…na substandard or overpricing. Ang kanilang iminumungkahi is to review yung size at saka yung pagkakaroon ng mas malayong cooking area. This is all in Tacloban,” she said in an interview with Radio Inquirer 990AM.
(They clarified that they did not make any report that it was substandard or there was overpricing. What they are recommending is to review the size and the distance of the cooking area. This is all in Tacloban)
Soliman said Public Works and Highways Secretary Rogelio Singson himself was tracing the source of the reports since “(it was) very clear from the IOM and IFRC na hindi sila yung nagsasabi na (that they are not the ones saying that the bunkhouses were) substandard and overpric[ed]…”
“At nalaman nga n’ya (Singson) na isa si dun si Mr. Palafox so tinawagan nya and alam ko nagkaintindihan sila,” she said, referring to architect and urban planner Felino Palafox Jr.
Singson had repeatedly denied that the temporary shelters were overpriced and even offered to resign if proven otherwise.
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