MANILA, Philippines – Four months after he lost his father due to Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), Papoose Lantajo, a village captain in Palo, Leyte, hasn’t collected the aid that the government promised the casualties’ families.

The government pledged P10,000 in “immediate financial assistance” to families of those who died due to Yolanda. It also committed P5,000 each for those who got injured.

Lantajo, 48, hasn’t claimed his P10,000 aid to “sympathize” with his community.

He said many residents in Palo, like himself, couldn’t claim these benefits because they lost the required documents.

Yolanda, the stronger storm ever to make landfall, washed away papers such as birth certificates, which the government requires from families that avail of aid.

Many families face Lantajo’s problem. Yolanda, after all, killed at least 6,268 when it ravaged the Philippines on Nov 8, 2013.

‘Relax requirements,’ please

To help them, university professor Lucell Larawan launched a petition on change.org, one of the world’s biggest petition platforms.

Larawan, who is based in Iloilo City, requested the government “to either relax requirements for death claims or set up alternative methods of applying for public document replacements” in Yolanda-hit communities.

In particular, she wanted to pressure the government “to either allow attestation by the barangay captain as proof of identity or arrange community visits by document depository agencies.”

Backing Larawan’s request, Lantajo said the government should be considerate.

“Magtiwala naman po sila sa amin sa barangay (village), kasi hindi po ako magsa-submit ng details sa mga patay, sa mga residente, kung kasinungalingan ang inaano ko po,” Lantajo said in a media conference on Tuesday evening, March 18.

(I hope they can trust us in the village, because I wouldn’t submit details on the dead, on the residents, if I am using false information.)

To address their problem, Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman announced that the government will launch a “caravan” in April to speed up aid for them, according to change.org.

‘Haven’t they suffered so much?’

In a statement titled “Victory for Signers of www.change.org/yolandadeathclaimspetition, change.org campaigns director Inday Espina Varona said Soliman made this commitment in a radio interview on Wednesday, March 19.

Citing Soliman, Varona said the caravan will help residents in Yolanda-hit areas “in processing death claims and getting new copies of vital public documents.”

The project will involve the Department of Social Welfare and Development and the office of Civil Defense, among others, Soliman said.

By Wednesday afternoon, at least 5,431 people have signed the petition on death claims.

Christine Roque, a change.org campaigner, told Rappler that Larawan originally targeted 5,000 signatures. The target has been raised to 7,500.

Those who signed it include former television anchor TJ Manotoc, beauty queen Aurora Pijuan, and activist-comedienne Mae Paner.

On the petition page, Dominic Lirios said: “I think the process should be eased, since these people have already suffered enough. Unless the government officials are not intelligent enough to come up with processes that will ease the pain of our countrymen!”

Petitioner Noel Morado asked, “Haven’t they suffered so much?” – Rappler.com