LA TRINIDAD, Benguet—A group of professors and students here launched a signature campaign on Friday to prod the government to speed up the relocation of families displaced by last year’s Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan). Most of these families continue to live in tents and temporary shelters in the Visayas.
The Consortium of Development Communication Educators and Practitioners of the Philippines (CDCEPP) launched the campaign after “seeing for ourselves how bad their conditions were when we attended a forum at Visayas State University in October,” said Gretchen Shagami Mangahas, CDCEPP Luzon vice president.
Mangahas teaches at Benguet State University here, where the campaign was launched. “Many of us donated to Yolanda victims so we are shocked that little has been done for the people in the tent city,” she said.
Her group recently visited Tacloban City during an immersion tour in neighboring Baybay City, both in Leyte province.
Mangahas said tent city residents also complained about the poor communication between the national and local governments, which, she added, may be the reason for the slow pace of rehabilitation.
“They said the coordination between the national and local governments was not good. From the communicators’ point of view, they should just sit down together and talk [to resolve the problem],” she said.
“We enjoin everyone to unite and seek immediate action from our government leaders to reduce the risks and prevent the loss of lives in these times,” CDCEPP said in its petition.
“Over a year has passed since Supertyphoon Yolanda stormed the Visayas, which caused massive destruction to the natural environment, communities and homes and claimed the lives of thousands of Filipinos. We reflect from the lessons brought on by this phenomenon, as families and communities in the Visayas continue to struggle in rebuilding their lives.”
Mangahas said 500 families lived in tent cities and 3,000 more in temporary shelters and bunkhouses.
The online petition can be accessed through www.change.org: https://cdcepp.org.ph/signpetition or it can be downloaded from the CDCEPP website, https://cdcepp.org.ph.
The petition has gathered 400 signatures since Dec. 7. Desiree Caluza, Inquirer Northern Luzon