Nonstop US aid vowed to Leyte

TACLOBAN CITY—The United States will continue to extend assistance for the recovery of areas hit by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan), aid agency officials said on Friday.

Carla Koppell, chief strategy officer of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and Susan Brems, mission director, made the remarks during their visit to this city, considered the ground zero of the world’s strongest typhoon to made landfall on Nov. 8, 2013.

They led in the ceremony to turn over a five-classroom building to Panalaron Central School, one of Tacloban’s oldest public schools with a student population of over 700. During the onslaught of Yolanda, the school’s seven buildings were destroyed and five people who sought refuge there were killed during the storm surge.

A health center and birthing clinic in Barangay Diit were also handed over to the city government led by Mayor Alfred Romualdez and businessman Philip Romualdez, who represented his brother Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez. The facilities are typhoon- and quake-resilient, and provided with furniture and medical equipment.

The two US aid officials described the facilities as “gifts of the American people” to the country which is one of its closest allies in Asia.

“Let me end by reaffirming our commitment to help restore normalcy in the lives of affected families, especially the children. We will continue to work closely with our friends in the Philippines to help rebuild this region better and stronger,” Koppell said.

Brems paid tribute to the resiliency of the people of Tacloban, saying they had made “tremendous progress” close to two years after Yolanda.

“The citizens of Tacloban can take great pride in the impressive resiliency you have shown and in your determination to rebuild your city. You have bounced back,” she said.

The United States has so far donated $143 million for the Philippines’ recovery and rehabilitation efforts. It has built 85 of its promised 250 classrooms to 15 schools across Leyte. Joey Gabieta, Inquirer Visayas