President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said he wants housing aid for victims of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” to be completed soon as he directed his housing czar Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo to make sure that the shelters are finished on time.
Speaking during the commemoration of Yolanda’s onslaught in Tacloban, Duterte said he was disappointed with the insufficient housing assistance even three years after the strongest typhoon to ever make landfall in history hit Eastern and Central Visayas.
“I came three years ago when this incident happened and I was sad. Hindi ako galit (I’m not mad), I’m not offended. Three years after iilang tao pa lang ang nakatira sa (there are only a few who live in) relief houses provided by the government. I don’t want to offend anybody but I’m not satisfied,” Duterte said in his speech.
“I will be back December. I want this thing completed. Gusto ko makalipat na lahat (I want everyone to be transferred to the relief houses). In the fullness of God’s time, I will be back December,” he added.
Duterte acknowledged the presence of Robredo, chief of the Housing and Urban Development and Coordinating Council (HUDCC), who shared the stage with him and other government officials.
“Nandito si Leni (Leni is here), she’s in charge of housing. Next time you take orders from her…that she’s supposed to finish her job on time,” he said.
“Hindi tayo pwedeng magbilangan. We are so underdeveloped a country that by the nature of laziness and indolence of some idiots, lalo tuloy tayo nagging (we continue to be) double the underdeveloped,” Duterte added.
Robredo on Monday said HUDCC was eyeing to complete housing projects for Yolanda survivors by 2018. As of Sept. 30, the agency said 29,661 houses were finished, 20,287 were partially completed and only 4,278 have been occupied.
The President said he was planning to sit down with Robredo and experts from Davao to discuss housing matters that may ease the plight of Yolanda survivors.
Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo earlier said at least 200,000 Yolanda victims have not received emergency shelter assistance from the previous administration. Sen. Loren Legarda on Tuesday said the government had not released P20.7 billion allocated for housing assistance as of June this year.
READ: P20B ‘Yolanda’ housing fund for 2016 not released by Aquino admin
Reiterating his vow to cut red tape in government, Duterte said he wants a faster processing of permits as he urged officials and the public to cooperate and not delay the projects.
“Dapat yang Yolanda, one year after tapos na ‘yan lahat (The relief houses for Yolanda victims should have been finished one year after), so you cut the red tape… ‘Di ko malaman san ako mag uumpisa (I don’t know where to start). Is it the rules to protect the money, or the people na ayaw mag trabaho (who don’t want to work)? I must admit the government has fallen short, very short of expectations from the people,” he said.
Robredo also shared the stage with the late dictator’s son and namesake Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., her rival in the vice presidential race. Marcos is the cousin of former Tacloban mayor Alfred Romualdez. RAM/rga