Iloilo Yolanda survivors: No use asking gov’t for help

ILOILO, Philippines – “Dalion lang nila. Ihatag sa mga biktima ang para sa ila.” (Do it quick. Give the victims what is rightfully theirs.)

Rolando Patano, a village official of Barangay Botongon in Estancia town, could not  hide his rage as he spoke these words.

 

One year after Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) sent a government-owned power barge ramming through their shores and coating the village’s shoreline in oil slick, government help had barely reached them.

It’s non-governmental organizations – and the communities themselves – that have seen them through the past 12 months, he said. It’s a sentiment shared by many residents in many towns in the northern part of Iloilo province.

In Botongon village, for instance, it was World Vision that provided shelter assistance to each of the 651 households, Patano said.

“If not for World Vision, Botongon would not live on,” said Rudjun Dalimocon, 41, one of the beneficiaries of the said international NGO. 

But because one NGO could only serve so many families, other survivors are still living in tents. Ninfa Hablo, 63, returned to Botongon in January from the “tent city” of Estancia – but she only got a tent, now with faded prints of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She lives there to this day, enduring the blistering heat during the day.

Another cynical soul is Gregorio Elosendo, chieftain for 28 years of sitio Nagpana, a mountain settlement of the Aetas in Lipata village in the town of Barotac Viejo. Yolanda destroyed the village’s 45-hectare coffee plantation of the village, and it will take 2 to 3 years before it can completely recover. 

“Daw ginatak-an na kami sang eksplikar sang amon mga kinahanglanon kay wala man sa gihapon bulig nga gaabot,” the chieftain said. (We’re tired of recounting our needs since we’re not even receiving any help.)

Help was provided instead by Advancing the Ministries of the Gospel, for example. The religious group provided shelter assistance to the Aetas worth P1.5 million, catering to 70 totally damaged houses and 63 partially damaged houses. 

Taytay sa Kauswagan, another local NGO, and UNHCR also provided relief goods and temporary shelters, respectively. The Department of Education and Savant Technologies also provided classroom facilities for the Nagpana Primary School.

Nagpana residents appeal for livelihood rehabilitation, road construction, and an elementary school since school children need to walk a distance of 2.5 kilometers every day just to get to Lipata Elementary School.

The survivors are still looking forward to receiving the calamity fund and 25 kilograms of rice, which the government promised them after Yolanda. 

Ninfa Blanca, 58, a resident of Omio in the town of Lemery, needs financial aid badly.  Without waiting for government help, she was able to rebuild the family’s little bungalow and put up a convenience store. This, however, has left her deep in debt, owing lending firms almost P50,000.

“Kung tani matagaan man ako sang gobyerno bulig financial para sa akon mga kautangan,” she said. (I hope the government would give me financial assistance to pay my dues)

Judith Barredo, a regional social welfare officer, said the rehabilitation plan worth more than P8 billion had been finalized and forwarded to the central office last June. Under the plan, a P10,000 worth of emergency shelter assistance (calamity fund) will be given to each household with partially damaged house, and P30,000 for every household with totally damaged house.

The allocation has not reached the regional office, however, and nobody knows exactly when the victims will receive their calamity fund and 25 kilograms of rice.

NGO beneficiaries won’t get help anymore 

Barredo explained that families with partially and totally damaged houses are still subject for validation to avoid duplication of assistance. Those who were able to receive shelter assistance from NGOs will no longer receive the calamity fund from government. 

Victims didn’t find this reasonable, arguing that the shelter assistance they received from NGOs was not enough to completely repair the damage brought by the typhoon.

“Just because the victims were able to rebuild their homes, you will no longer give them cash assistance? You just don’t know some of them are drowning in debt,” said Ninfa Nacionales, executive assistant at the municipal government of Estancia.

Moreover, those who will be chosen as beneficiaries of the core shelter assistance worth P70,000 for every housing unit – aimed at building a permanent shelters as identified by the local government units (LGUs) – will no longer receive the emergency shelter assistance.

Barredo said the town of Concepcion will receive a core shelter assistance of P3.5 million from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to build 50 units of permanent houses in Sitio Calachuchi, where the bunkhouse is presently located. 

On the other hand, the town of Estancia has yet to identify a location where to build the permanent shelters – a prerequisite for receiving shelter funds from the DBM. The lot in Barangay Gogo, where the bunkhouse is located, is not the property of the LGU. 

Recovery in 3-5 years

Jerry Bionat, Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Officer (PDRRMO) of Iloilo province, said it will take 3 to 5 years before the affected areas of the province can completely recover.

Based on figures from the Office of the Presidential Assistant on Recovery and Rehabilitation (OPARR), the province of Iloilo needs a total of P20.2 billion out of the P167.8 billion needed for all provinces affected by Yolanda. 

The amount alloted for Iloilo will be used for the following:

• Infrastructure – P2,365,956,793.64
• Resettlement – P12,883,792,300
• Social Services – P2,686, 020,945
• Livelihood – P2, 303, 221, 386

Services delivered so far

In December 2013, Adopt a Fisherman Project was launched. A partnership between the private and public sectors, it has collected P17.4 million as of September 19. Of the said amount, P5.2 million has been used to acquire boat materials and P904,000 for the cash-for-work component was released, benefitting 335 fishermen from 8 towns.

Another 139 donors also donated fishing boats.

PDRRMO also delivered financial assistance of P10, 000 to each family of the casualties. Of the 171 casualties recorded in Western Visayas, the families of 110 had been given assistance as of September.

As of October 30, DSWD-Region VI was able to serve 563,383 families all over the region, delivering 1,181,132 family packs worth P 471.7 million. 

In addition, under its Sustainable Livelihood Program, DSWD has approved P12.2 million (from the allotted budget of P13.5 million), which will be allocated for the following:

Livelihood Assistance – P11.9 million

Pedicab – P149,520

Motorized Banca – P1.4 million

It will serve 1,442 beneficiaries all over the region.

Cash for Work assistance worth P257.8 million has also been approved, and will be released to 59,887 beneficiaries. – Rappler.com 

The writer and photographers are volunteers for the Typhoon Yolanda Story Hub Visayas, a portal created by veteran journalists, student writers, mobile journalists, and photographers based in Iloilo City. The Hub delivers reports from across the Panay Island, especially the severely damaged and minimally covered northern Iloilo and the provinces of Antique, Capiz, and Aklan.