TWO years after Typhoon “Yolanda” flattened Eastern Visayas, congressional leaders as well as civil society and cause-oriented groups expressed outrage that 205,128 families remain homeless and still live in “high risk zones.”
Citing a National Housing Authority report, Senator JV Ejercito, chairman of the Senate committee on urban development, housing, and resettlement, expressed dismay that the agency was only able to build 16,544 housing units since the disaster struck—way off the agency’s production target.
Consequently, House Independent Minority Bloc leader Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez demanded that the bulk of the P170 billion allotted for Yolanda-devastated provinces be downloaded to local government units to speed up the reconstruction and rehabilitation.
Budget Secretary Florencio Abad said some P94 billion has been released for Yolanda projects as of October 2015 while some P46 billion was allocated in the 2016 budget.
But in Panay, a 12-boat fluvial protest along the waters of Panay River in Brgy. Culasi, Roxas City was held Thursday by farmers and fisherfolk belonging to Pamalakaya to dramatize their demand for justice.
Pamalakaya blamed President Benigno Aquino III and presidential candidate Mar Roxas of the ruling Liberal Party for their slow response and inaction to save the Yolanda victims from hunger.
In Manila, some 200 leaders from various environmental groups, spearheaded by Kalikasan, also held a forum on Thursday to demand that government come up with disaster preparedness and management response on climate change.
“Two years after the catastrophe and majority of the victims are still yearning for rehabilitation of their livelihoods and rebuilding their damaged houses caused by the super typhoon,” said Jessica Emperwa, Pamalakaya-Panay secretary-general.
Also, majority of the victims are struggling to survive in the substandard bunkhouses especially the children who are suffering from malnutrition and the worst part is they are dying due to the inhuman condition in the bunkhouses,” Emperwa said.
The fisherfolk group also said Aquino and Roxas should be held accountable for the criminal neglect in helping and providing immediate assistance to the victims of the super typhoon.
“We will never forget Mar Roxas who once rejected the victims in Tacloban by putting politics first. For the small fisherfolk, he is no longer a [contending force] in the presidential race courtesy of his anti-fisherfolk and anti-people views,” Emperwa said.
Social Watch Philippines convenor and former national Treasurer Leonor Magtolis Briones dared the government to disprove her claim that government was treating the reconstruction efforts with a “business-as-usual” attitude.
“Unless the government moves at this critical juncture, the present administration will end with a negative mark on how they effectively helped the people recover from the devastation left by Yolanda,” Briones said.
“At the rate they’re going, they are building only 9,000 to 10,000 units a year. If nothing changes, NHA might only be able to accomplish the target of 205,128 houses in the next 18 years. That is like forever,” Ejercito said. “We should have said, ‘build back better and faster’.”
Ejercito summoned the NHA to the Senate inquiry on the government’s reconstruction efforts, specifically on the provision of shelter and housing for survivors and the agency’s official said a total of 205,128 families still live in “high risk zones.”
Briones said the survivors of Yolanda cannot get back on their feet because their livelihood, especially in the resettlement sites, remains uncertain.
“Where is the government’s malasakit? Taclobanons could not help but ask two years after they were stripped of their belongings, properties, homes, livelihood and aggravated by the loss of lives of their loved ones,” said Romualdez, whose district, including Tacloban City, was the most hit with more than 6,200 recorded recorded.
According to the findings of a Social Watch study, P1.045 billion in government funds was released to the DA for livelihood projects in 2014. For 2015, the agency requested only P1.217 billion for infrastructure related to Yolanda reconstruction.
“It was only in May 2015, that they submitted to the DBM the required documents for the release of funds. As of August 2015, the DBM has not released the funds but the DA has started the bidding process,” Briones said.
Briones said based on the interviews of SWP with sources inside the DA, they explained that more than 50 percent of the programs, projects and activities for livelihood under the DA were proposals from local government units.
However, she said, the Commission on Audit has disallowed budget releases to LGUs with unliquidated cash advances, hence, the DA regional officers have been very cautious in releasing funds to these LGUs.
“With the devastation suffered by the agricultural sector, releases for the allocation lodged under Philippine Ccoconut Authority and DA reached only 27 percent and 29 percent, respectively,” Briones said.
“On the other hand, the [DSWD] received 122 percent of their funding requirements in the CRRP and the Department of Interior and Local Government got 121 percent,” Briones said.
“The DBM communicates honestly and openly at all times regarding the fund releases we make pertaining to programs and projects of the government. Here are the facts on how much public funds we have released for Yolanda projects so far and where we sourced them in the budget for the years 2013, 2014 and 2015,” Abad said.
“Of the total requirement of P150 billion for rebuilding the communities hit by Typhoon Yolanda, we have released a total of P93.87 billion as of October 23, 2015,” the budget chief explained.
Abad said these fund releases were charged against various funding sources in the General Appropriations Act for fiscal years 2013, 2014 and 2015.
“The scale of the damage is unprecedented. And given that it was unforeseen, the total amount needed for the reconstruction efforts is not something that can be accommodated within the Calamity Fund. So we needed to find various funding sources within the budget,” said Abad, adding that the government moved to implement various measures to source funds for Yolanda response.
Abad also said that a total of P46 billion is allocated for Yolanda projects in the proposed 2016 budget. This amount is composed of P18.9 in Special Purpose Funds and P27.3 billion lodged in agency budgets.
The amount of P18.9 billion is for the Yolanda Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program, the master plan to build back better infrastructure, livelihood support, resettlement, and social services, he said.
This amount is part of the P38.9-billion National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Fund, a Special Purpose Fund in the 2016 budget, he added.
“In addition to the P18.9-billion YRRP, the amount of P25.6 billion was lodged in the budget of the NHA for the construction of housing units for Yolanda victims.
“Meanwhile, the amount of P992 million was lodged in the budget of the Local Water Utilities Administration and the amount of P660 million was lodged in the budget of the National Electrification Administration for the installation of water and power,” Abad said.
Emperwa said the fluvial protest also called for the investigation and immediate distribution of the anomalous Emergency Shelter Assistance fund, which is a financial assistance to the victims of the super typhoon Yolanda.
“ESA is no longer an emergency assistance since it was needed two years ago but thousands of families have not yet received the assistance. The distribution of this fund is very selective,” Emperwa charged.
“This is very infuriating that despite the pouring donations coming from international agencies and organizations, we found out that there are still unused funds being withheld by various government agencies. Something fishy with how the government handled the funds and we fear that this might be used for Liberal Party’s campaign fund,” Emperwa said.