3,000 Yolanda victims face forced eviction

About 3,000 families affected by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” who are now living in danger zones in Tacloban City are facing forced eviction, an official of a Catholic Church organization said.

Citing reports, Fr. Edwin Gariguez, executive secretary of the National Secretariat for Social Action (Nassa)/Caritas Philippines, said the families will be evicted starting July 1 and will be transferred to temporary shelters north of the city.

“While the city government is denying it’s a forced eviction and (said) it’s just a transfer option, why set a deadline for the people to vacate the area?” the Church official said.

The families were expected to stay in the temporary shelters for at least two years while awaiting completion of their permanent housing by the National Housing Authority and several nongovernment organizations, Gariguez said.

Most of the families are living in communities along Old Road Sagkahan, which was badly hit by the storm surge when Yolanda hit the city in 2013.

The city government of Tacloban had initially planned the transfer on the first week of May, but deferred it to allow the families to celebrate the city’s feast on June 30.

Gariguez said the affected families were opposing the transfer because the relocation site had “no provision for electricity and water and is far from their sources of livelihood.”

The city government should heed the people’s call for a stop to the eviction or transfer option until the permanent shelters are available, he said.

A consortium is working on the development of the “Pope Francis Village,” a permanent relocation site in Barangay (village) Diit in Tacloban City, which can accommodate at least 550 families in the city.