ILOILO CITY—Tourism is helping survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” in Western Visayas get back on their feet.
The Department of Tourism (DOT) in the region said tourist arrivals in the provinces of Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Antique, Aklan, Guimaras and Capiz increased from 7.7 percent to 57.9 percent.
The six provinces in Western Visayas and Eastern Samar and Leyte were among those worst hit when Yolanda struck on Nov. 8, 2013.
At least P90 billion was supposed to be released this year as part of the P167.9-billion budget for the Yolanda Comprehensive Recovery and Rehabilitation Plan (CRRP).
But, according to Budget Secretary Florencio Abad, the P90 billion was not included in the 2015 General Appropriations Act because the CRRP was submitted a month after the proposed national budget was sent to Congress for deliberation.
He told reporters in Cebu on Wednesday that his department was still looking into how it could realign funds to give priority to rehabilitation projects.
Fortunately, tourism has started to pick up in Western Visayas provinces while international groups continued to help Yolanda-stricken provinces in Eastern Visayas.
According to DOT data, the number of tourists who visited destinations in Western Visayas reached 3,953,766 last year.
The highest increase was recorded in Antique with 28,097 tourists last year, up from 17,786 in 2013.
The province has been drawing an increasing number of tourists due to its pristine and sparsely populated white beaches, islands and mountain ranges.
Aklan remains the top tourist-drawer in the region, accounting for 40 percent of tourist arrivals, due to Boracay Island.
In Eastern Visayas, two school buildings with eight classrooms were turned over on March 23 by the Operations USA and Honeywell Hometown Solutions to officials of Ngolos Elementary School in Barangay Ngolos, Guiuan town.
The school buildings replaced the ones washed out during Yolanda, which made its first landfall in Guiuan.
The school, located 12 kilometers from the town proper, is facing the Leyte Gulf, which witnessed storm surges generated by Yolanda.
Richard Walden, chief executive officer of the Operation USA, said the new school buildings could be used by the village of more than 1,000 residents as evacuation centers during storms because these were built to withstand winds of up to 250 kilometers per hour.
In Javier town, a health facility had been turned over by the Heeten Help Good Center.
“This is the first time our town will have this kind of medical facility,” said Mary Ann Aguisatan, town health officer.
Letecia Abrogar, 46 and a mother of seven, said she wouldn’t have to go to the hospital in Abuyog town, about nine kilometers from Javier, just to seek medical assistance.
“We will save in transportation cost because the medical facility is just in our town,” said Abrogar.