BALANGIGA, Eastern Samar—A broad community of victims of the 2013 Super Typhoon ‘‘Yolanda’’ (‘‘Haiyan’’) insists on government investigation into the alleged anomalies in resettlement projects for the survivors five years after the storm.
“The contractors need to be held accountable for the substandard units or construction that they do,” Rina Reyes, project coordinator of land rights group Rights Network and leader of Community of Yolanda Survivors and Partners.
“What came out from this dialogue is the negligence of the National Housing Authority. They cannot simply pass this on to the contractors. It’s the NHA that has the social contract to the people, and they are reneging on that contract,” Reyes said.
The Office of the Presidential Adviser for Special Concerns and Oversight Office for Yolanda Rehabilitation through Usec. Wendell Avisado conducted its final leg of grassroots consultations for storm victims in “Yolanda” corridors in Balangiga, Eastern Samar on April 27.
Forum participants were told that in Balangiga alone, the construction of 460 housing units for the survivors was stopped after only 200 units remained in various stages of construction while only two housing units were completed. The project started in 2014 with each unit costing P290,000.
In an interview, Balangiga mayor Randy Graza said that these units are also ‘substandard,’ the reason why the construction was halted.
Lita Bagunas, another CYSP member and the president of Uswag Este-Katarungan, a federation of typhoon-affected farmers, fisherfolks, and informal settlers in Eastern Samar, also complained about their resettlement project in the municipality of Giporlos, saying the houses are “too small, far from the source of livelihood.”
“The unit has 26-floor area. It’s typical design from NHA,” said engineer Jun Punzalan of the private construction company handling the Giporlos Greenfields housing project.
The Greenfields project was started in October 2017 and is expected to be completed in November this year, Punzalan added.
Giporlos Mayor Mark Biong said that they are doing revalidation on the housing recipients to “ensure that the poorest of the poor” will benefit from the project while hoping that his town will receive another housing project from the national government for his affected constituents.
He also denied that they are not conducting consultations with the stakeholders at the same time
As of April 23 accomplishment status, NHA said reported that of the 743 housing units in Greenfields, 566 units are currently in various stages, no completed unit yet, while land development is at 36.14 percent.
During their resettlement site visit in Brgy. Can-amo, in Lawaan town, Avisado, along with Director Kim de Leon, saw how the wall of one housing unit “shook” when the officials attempted to push it.
The event was caught on video by CYSP.
“We can listen to a litany of complaints. But the biggest challenge is what we can do fast today so that our remaining time will be converted into something wholesome and would make the people appreciate it,” Avisado earlier told about 500 stakeholders along with town mayors and officials from national agencies, in Eastern Samar during the open forum at Balangiga municipal gymnasium.
“Even though President Duterte inherited this Yolanda, he is not neglecting it. He’s doing everything in order to deliver what is due to the beneficiaries,” said Avisado while assuring that the house and lot of the recipients at the resettlement areas are for free.
Avisado appealed to the beneficiaries to be “more understanding on this situation,” saying that the president is “not a superman.”
“We’re looking ways and means to speed this up,” he added.
Also, he admitted that what happened in the government-led Yolanda rehabilitation is a “vicious cycle” due to its “bureaucratic” system.
“After three or five years, we’re still on this, building one house post” Avisado lamented as he noted on how the government’s policy itself, aside from its lack of consultation and coordination to the affected communities, is also the cause of the delay in the rehabilitation.
He added that they have plenty of changes that they want to implement in rehabilitation process– particularly on government resettlement projects—so it won’t take long, this includes giving exemption on the basis of land certification, development permit, provisional authority, among others.
Other housing project accomplishments
In Samar Forestdale project located at Brgy Cantubi, Balangkayan, NHA reported that out of 390 units bid out, 232 are in various stages of construction, 158 completed, and 88.48 percent in land development. In Brgy Cantubi, 159 units were bid out while no figure was still available on the number of finished units and percentage in land development.
In Quinapondan, Town Ville Site 1 in Brgy. Buenavista has 343 units bid out, 16 units in various stages of construction, no completion yet, and 14.74 percent in land development.
While in Town Ville Site 2, 343 units bid out, 240 units in various stages, no completion yet, and 18.33 percent in land development. In its Town Ville Site 3, 124 units bid out, 30 units in various stages, no completion yet, and 16.78 percent in land development.
In Monte Peak Estate in Brgy. San Isidro, Lawaan, 949 units were bid out, 227 units are in various stages, 9 units complete, and 45.92 percent in land development.
Earlier, NHA Eastern Visayas Regional Manager Rizalde Mediavillo announced that their central office has terminated the contracts of at least 10 Yolanda housing project developers, citing “negative slippage of 15 percent” in their contract.
He, however, did not disclose to the media the names of the housing project developers