A CIVIL society group on Wednesday called on the House and the Senate to conduct a joint congressional inquiry into the “pathetic and slow progress” in rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in areas battered by super Typhoon Yolanda, and the lack of transparency in how funds were being spent.
“We are now seeking Congress’ decisive action to address this alarming inefficiency and absence of clear plans to bridge the gaps in the recovery and
reconstruction… for Yolanda areas. Will our legislators just leave these poor souls to fend for themselves when they will be surely vulnerable come another major disaster?” said the head of Social Watch Philippines and former national treasurer Leonor Magtolis Briones.
Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, leader of the House independent minority bloc, also lamented the delay in the releases of funds and urged the government to accord some urgency in the construction of “resilient and build-back-better compliant housing for Yolanda affected families.”
Some 132,000 families who belong to the poorest of the poor remain homeless and are still living in tent cities and bunkhouses in Tacloban and other areas devastated by super Typhoon Yolanda as President Benigno Aquino III has yet to approve the release of P54 billion for housing resettlement, Briones said.
UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons Chaloka Beyani recently expressed surprise that despite huge resources spent or earmarked for infrastructure projects, basic services including water, sanitation and electricity are lacking almost two years after Yolanda, Briones said.
“He found that some families remain in substandard ‘bunkhouse’ accommodations or have fallen entirely through the protection net,” Briones said.
“When Yolanda struck in 2013, we saw an unprecedented demonstration of heroism and basic humanity in humanitarian response. Government efforts were ably supported backed by complementary efforts from nongovernment organizations and the private sector,” said Isagani Serrano, SWP co-convenor.
“Considering the positive start government can build on, it’s hard to justify the pathetic progress in rehabilitation and reconstruction. We are not building back better; we are not even building back to pre-Yolanda situation, which was a picture of risks and vulnerabilities to begin with,” Serrano said.
Briones said the Emergency Shelter Assistance was received by Yolanda victims more than a year after they lost their houses.
“The bulk of funds for ESA was downloaded to local government units only in June this year and received by its intended beneficiaries only recently,” Briones said.
“Majority of those living in areas declared unsafe zones are still living in bunk houses, transitional shelter or are back in their houses in unsafe zones. Delay in recovery efforts is unjustifiable and the people demand immediate government action to address the problems,” Briones said.
The group recently released its report, tracking the public financing of the government’s reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts in 14 municipalities and one city in Samar, Leyte, Northern Palawan, and Iloilo.
Some 22 months after Yolanda washed away homes and flattened Eastern Visayas, the government has yet to complete building resilient permanent homes to a total of 205,000 families that were rendered homeless by Yolanda, according to a seven-month study undertaken by the SWP, in collaboration with Christian Aid, that tracked the P170-billion funding supposedly for reconstruction and rehabilitation.
“But as of June 30, 2015, only 73,000 families of the 205,000 poorest families were resettled, leaving 130,000 families still living in tent cities and bunkhouses,” said Briones, citing the SWP findings.
“This was because only a third or P21 billion of the P75 billion allocated for housing resettlement had been released by the Department of Budget and Management,” she added.
Briones said Leyte has the most number of damaged houses at 347,003, followed by Iloilo at 153,480, Capiz at 130,688 and Cebu at 103,318, among other provinces.
But Iloilo province recorded the most number of families in “unsafe zones” at 43,987, followed by Leyte at 30,632, Negros Occidental at 27,055 and Cebu with 22,423, she said.
Eastern Visayas had the most number of persons affected at 4.27 million followed by Western Visayas at 3.67 million and Central Visayas at 2.96 million.
Briones said the SWP report showed that settlement is a major area of reconstruction that encountered problems that caused a major setback in its delivery.
“The people interviewed by SWP in the provinces covered by the study raised several complaints about the unclear guidelines on ESA which left out other equally poor households who need their houses repaired or restored. Those living in unsafe zones are still in bunk houses or transitional shelter while some have returned to their places where they suffered devastation,” Briones said.
SWP found that while construction for permanent housing had already started in most Yolanda affected areas, snags such as land acquisition, pricing, resistance by target beneficiaries, and documentation were encountered.
A large number of the housing units have yet to be completed in Tacloban, Leyte, Easter Samar, Iloilo, and Northern Palawan, Briones said.
“Immediate resolution of these problems can be addressed if only President Benigno Aquino III will designate a central agency or body with mandate and budget to lead, supervise, and coordinate government efforts in disaster preparedness and response, reconstruction, and adaptation and mitigation of risks to prevent a disaster,” Briones said.
“It is equally devastating to find out that the guidelines on emergency shelter assistance effectively limited its scope, and excluded households who are poor and suffered destruction. The tool for assessment of houses damaged by Yolanda as ‘totally’ or ‘partially’ damaged was subjective,” Briones said.
The ESA was supposed to grant homeless families with up to P20,000 in financial shelter assistance, she said.