The people of Leyte need roofs over their head, not seawalls”.
In a nutshell, this is what coastal residents of three towns heavily damaged by Super Typhoon “Yolanda” exactly three years ago are clamoring for as calls for the immediate suspension of multi-billion peso seaside embankment project in the province continue to swell.
Led by the fisherfolk group Pambansang Lakas ng Kilusang Mamamalakaya ng Pilipinas or Pamalakaya and People Surge, residents of affected coastal areas suggested instead for the government to realign—the P7.9-billion budget allotted for the project instead—on resilient housing and safe evacuation centers built in their communities on which the residents can run into during the calamities.
The groups said the government project Tacloban-Palo-Tanauan Tide Embankment, locally known as The Great Wall of Leyte would displace more than 14,000 households, mostly fisherfolk from a city and two coastal municipalities in the province of Leyte.
The P7.9-billion TEP, is a long stretch of seawall from Tacloban to the town of Tanauan, Leyte, touted to protect people from storm surges.
Of the 27.3-kilometer length of the embankment, 20.1 km are in Tacloban, 4.1 km will cover Palo, and 3.1 km is in Tanauan. It shall have a height of about 4.5 meters and its center line is said to stand 30 meters from the seashore.
“TEP is not rehabilitation but another major disaster that targets the fisherfolk and poor residents who were already victims of the onslaught of Yolanda, and have even yet to recover,” Fernando Hicap, Pamalakaya chairman, said in a statement.
Instead of providing concrete evacuation centers that can be a safe haven for residents during calamities, the government “wants to totally eject its residents from their only recourse,” Hicap added.
In Candahug, Palo, however, several residents already started demolishing their own houses and small businesses after the Department of Public Works and Highways compensated the structures based on assessed value.
In Cogon also in Palo, DPWH employees visited the community to assess the houses and put numbers in red vandals, indicating they will be affected by the Tide Embankment project.
According to Visayas-based People Surge, an alliance for disaster survivors in the Philippines, the affected residents will not be relocated and will just instead look for themselves for any other available space within their barangay.
The groups opposing the embankment project cited a recent study made by the Center for Environmental Concerns and expert scientists from AGHAM (Advocates of Science and Technology for the People) that show that the Environmental Impact Assessment conducted for the project did not comprehensively address environmental issues such as the effects on mangroves, concerns on inland flooding, liquefaction, and other environmental hazards.
“Aside from the social and economic impacts, TEP also poses threat to our environment, contrary to its promulgation that it will mitigate the post-effects of calamities like storm surges and floods,” Hicap stressed.
The two groups led the protest at the head office of the DPWH in Manila together with members of People Surge to urge the agency to completely suspend the TEP.
They vowed to press the government to suspend the project implementation as they scheduled a rally this week (December 8) again in Manila this time at the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to protest the negative impacts of the TEP on the marine environment and aquatic resources of Leyte.