Secretary Soliman: No more survivors in tents by yearend

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—All survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” would be transferred to bunkhouse communities, relocation or transitional sites by the end of the year, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)on Friday assured families still living in tents and makeshift houses.

“All efforts are being exerted so that by Dec. 30, none of the remaining survivors in all Yolanda-affected areas would be staying in tents and makeshift (houses),” Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said, adding that the agency was continuously relocating displaced families to more permanent sites.

According to DSWD data, 3,219 families were living in tents and makeshift houses in Leyte and Samar provinces as of June 2014. Majority of them are now living in safer transitional shelters, the agency said.

Soliman visited Barangays 88, 89, and 90 in Tacloban City on Friday to check on the condition of families still living in tents and to discuss relocation plans for them. Relief goods consisting of rice, canned goods, cereal drinks, coffee and hygiene kits were also distributed to the families.

The DSWD and the International Organization for Migration has been transferring 138 families in Barangay 88 to bunkhouse communities, the Badato Transitional Site and the Villa Sophia Permanent Relocation Site in batches.

The first batch was relocated on Oct. 30 and Nov. 3, with the last batch scheduled for relocation today.

By Nov. 30, 257 families still living in tents in Barangays 89 and 90 would have been transferred to on-site bunkhouses constructed by Oxfam and Green Mindanao, the DSWD said.

There are no more families living in tents in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, as the 132 families previously living in tents had been transferred to temporary shelters in Barangay Getty Hollywood in Cogon, Soliman said.