Norwegians build houses for ‘Yolanda’ survivors
BOGO CITY, Cebu—For Norwegian May Britt Tynes, 68, Bogo City has been her second home for more than a decade.
When Supertyphoon “Yolanda” devastated the city on Nov. 8, 2013, she just couldn’t sit and watch her neighbors.
With the help of her daughter, Lone Anderson, they got in touch with friends in Norway to raise money to build houses for typhoon survivors.
Lone said they saw how the typhoon destroyed a lot of houses here since her family was on vacation in Bogo City when the typhoon came in Cebu.
The Tynes were able to raise money to build 31 houses for survivors. Each house, which costs P120,000, was turned over to City Mayor Celestino “Junie” Martinez in a ceremony on Aug. 2 witnessed by Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III and Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale.
The 31 houses located at Yolanda Village in Barangay La Paz were in addition to the 100 houses earlier constructed at Yolanda Village donated by various nongovernment organizations and private individuals.
Most of those who would be relocated to Yolanda villages will come from coastal easement areas considered “danger zones” because these are vulnerable to storm surges.
Lucia Garbo, one of the beneficiaries of the houses given by the project, told the Inquirer her house now was “better” than the small nipa hut they once lived in in Barangay Sambag. She said her family was thankful they could now sleep peacefully since they wouldn’t have to worry that strong winds might destroy their house.
Emergency shelter
Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development in the region (DSWD-7) has distributed P30,000 each to 502 families under their emergency shelter program.
DSWD-7 Director Mercedita Jabagat said they were targeting 7,000 beneficiaries in northern Cebu province who would not be accommodated in Yolanda villages and who do not live in danger zones but whose houses were destroyed by Yolanda.
Jabagat said this was part of the P15-million initial shelter assistance of the DSWD to the Yolanda survivors. This amount, she said, forms part of the P12-billion rehabilitation fund for Cebu, which was recently approved by President Aquino.
The Department of Agriculture in the region (DA-7) also announced the allocation of P9.98 million to Bogo City to help Yolanda survivors.
DA-7 Director Angel Enriquez said P7.28 million was distributed to 1,489 farmers in the form of seedlings, fertilizers, fuel subsidy and one-hand tractors.
Enriquez said the remaining P2.7 million would be for the “cash-for-work program” where DA-7 pays farmers to work for at least five days to prepare their farms for planting.
Bogo City incurred P700 million in damage after the typhoon. The Cebu provincial government has given P2 million as initial assistance to Bogo City.
About 4,000 of the city’s 18,295 households live in danger zones.
