Evacuees leave complex, but hopes remain dim

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Julai Causain watched as her siblings dismantled their tents at Don Joaquin Memorial Sports Complex in Zamboanga City and salvaged wood scraps and metal sheets for use at their temporary relocation shelter in Asinan, a sitio in the coastal village of Manicahan in the city.

“I don’t want to join my brothers and sisters in Asinan. It’s not a home yet but another relocation. I am old and tired, I want to go back to Laud-Laud in Rio Hondo,” the 52-year-old Causain said, referring to the sitio in another barangay.

A few meters away, Ismael Abdulla, 37, finished packing his family’s belongings—all in two large bundles covered with blankets.

“We are waiting for the demolition team,” he said. The city government was sending the team to bring Abdulla’s family to the Masepla transitory site, the biggest temporary shelter for internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the city’s Barangay Mampang.

Over 1,00 families sought refuge at the sports complex when followers of Nur Misuari, founder of the Moro National Liberation Front, laid siege to the city in September 2013, and survived on government relief assistance and international donations.

Now, the city government wants to clear the grandstand of evacuees and transfer them to two relocation sites in Asinan and in Masepla.

“We have given them enough time,” said Elmer Apolinario, the city administrator. He pointed out that the processing for the return of the evacuees to their original places would be done at the transitory sites.

Abdulla objected to his family’s relocation, but said “we cannot do anything but follow the wishes of the government.”

Like others who agreed to be moved, Abdulla and his family scavenged for abandoned lumber and iron sheets that they could still use at Masepla.

Another evacuee, Ramada Jose, questioned why the city government had not put up relocation shelters in Rio Hondo. Ma. Socorro Rojas, city social welfare officer, said the construction of houses had been delayed in Rio Hondo and in some areas of Mariki.

“In fact, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is already asking why there has been no structure there yet,” Rojas said. “In one of the meetings, we were informed that an additional P100 million was needed for that area, and it’s for septage and water,” she added.

Reynaldo Bolay-og, the supervising engineer of the National Housing Authority, said it was only recently that the local interagency committee had finalized the plan to put up over 1,000 dwellings in Rio Hondo but encountered funding problems in the process.

However, in other areas, many shelters have already been completed, Bolay-og said.

So far, permanent housing units have been built and occupied by families in Paniran, Martha, St. Peter, a portion of Mariki, a portion of Lustre and an Islamic village in Santa Barbara, according to Rodrigo Pagotaisidro, city housing and land management officer.

“Many families have already moved into their permanent shelters and we expect to see more families in the relocation areas moving to their new homes soon,” Pagotaisidro said.

Bolay-og said his agency intended to complete all shelters before the year-end.