Thousands join rallies in Panay

UNFAIR Survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” march in Roxas City, Capiz, to protest alleged irregularities in the distribution of the government’s emergency shelter assistance. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

ILOILO CITY—Thousands of survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) joined protests on the second anniversary of the disaster, denouncing the slow pace of government recovery efforts.

At least 5,000 survivors and supporters joined the rally on Sunday in Roxas City in Capiz, 3,200 in Iloilo and 1,000 in Aklan.

In Tacloban City in Leyte, People’s Surge, which is composed of survivors, canceled a rally because its secretary general, Marissa Cabaljao, had to return to her hometown in Calbiga town, Samar, to check on reports that some soldiers were harassing her family members.

The survivors from different towns in Capiz converged on Roxas for a protest march along the main streets. A Mass was held in the morning at City Bandstand where a rally led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) was also held in the afternoon.

The protesters decried cases of corruption, politicking and delays in the distribution of shelter assistance by the government.

They also called for the scrapping of Memorandum No. 24 of the Department of Social Welfare and Development, which prescribes guidelines on qualification of beneficiaries of the emergency shelter assistance.

Under the memorandum, survivors whose houses were destroyed or damaged by Yolanda are ineligible to receive cash assistance if their family has a monthly income of more than P15,000 and if they are residing in areas 40 meters from the coastline, considered danger zones.

Survivors who have received full shelter subsidy from nongovernment organizations also cannot receive the cash grant of P30,000 for those whose houses were destroyed and P10,000 for those whose houses were damaged.

In Iloilo, about 2,500 survivors in Estancia town and 700 in Iloilo City joined separate protest rallies led by Bayan and Task Force Buliganay.

The city protest pushed through despite the denial by the city government of a permit. Fr. Marco Sulayao, spokesperson for Kusog sang Pumuluyo, a Panay-wide alliance of typhoon survivors, decried the denial of permit.

“The activity is being held on a Sunday with the least traffic but we were told to hold our protest at the public plaza of La Paz district, away from the city center. This is contrary to our purpose of publicly and widely airing the situation and sentiments of those worst affected by disaster,” Sulayao told the Inquirer.

In the capital town of Kalibo in Aklan, about 1,000 survivors and protesters led by Bayan marched in the main streets before holding a rally at the Crossing Banga-New Washington.

In the morning, around 100 survivors joined a protest run from Pastrana Park to Kalibo-Numancia Bridge.

Protesters also released two miniature fiberglass boats at the Lagatik River in New Washington town. Written on the boats were “Justice for Yolanda victims.” With a report from Joey A. Gabieta, Inquirer Visayas