A VIEW of one part of the Tacloban City port days after Supertyphoon “Yolanda” struck last year.
MARK ALVIC ESPLANA/INQUIRER SOUTHERN LUZON
TACLOBAN CITY—Out of the billions of pesos the Philippine government received from foreign donors following the onslaught of Super Typhoon “Yolanda,” the city, considered ground zero of the strongest storm to hit landfall in recent history, has received only about P250 million.
Zosima Cordano, city treasurer, said the city government, headed by a mayor who is not a political ally of President Aquino, received P251.5 million from the national government. The city government had estimated that it needed at least P20 billion for rehabilitation.
The money came from three national government agencies— the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), according to Cordano.
The city government, she said, also received P34 million in financial assistance from other local government units, private institutions and individuals, and three senators.
Cordano said city government records showed that the DSWD provided P34.5 million in funds to finance a cash-for-work program for Yolanda survivors, who were paid P260 per day for 15 days of work.
The BFAR spent P32.5 million to repair fish cages destroyed by the storm.
The DILG released P184.5 million, which was part of the
P230 million in financial assistance it gave to all local government units hit by Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) under its Reconstruction Assistance on Yolanda.
The funds were used to repair city or municipal buildings, public markets and civic centers.
The city government earlier submitted its Post-disaster Needs Assessment to rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson, whose powers do not include implementing programs, indicating that the city would need more than P20 billion for rehabilitation.
Although Lacson had told city officials that the request for P20 billion was approved, not a single centavo had been downloaded to the city government.
Cordano said she felt bad that the national government did not provide the financial assistance Tacloban really needed while international groups and foreign countries acknowledged the massive devastation the city had suffered.
Based on the Foreign Aid Transparency Hub, a government website that tracks down pledges and donations from foreign governments, the government received more than
P71 billion in foreign aid pledges and more than P44 billion in cash donations.
The website, however, didn’t say how the donations were spent by the government.
In the meantime, the city government had to use part of the P34 million in cash donations from nongovernment groups.
At least P10 million of the amount was used to purchase a 1-hectare lot in the northern part of Tacloban City to be used as a permanent housing site for Yolanda survivors and to repair the offices of City Hall.
The rest of the donations were deposited in a trust fund at Land Bank of the Philippines and Postal Bank, and would be used for the city’s rehabilitation program.
Among those who donated to the city government were Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada, P50,000; Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, P2 million, and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao, P500,000.
Three senators also provided financial assistance: Ralph Recto, P250,000; Sonny Angara, P75,000, and JV Ejercito, P50,000.
The United Nations Children’s Fund also donated P10.9 million.