TACLOBAN CITY—Employees of the Department of Natural Resources in Eastern Visayas will stage a protest Monday noon to demand for the release of financial assistance meant for government workers hit by Super Typhoon “Yolanda” in 2013.
Through the protest outside the regional office here, workers hope the national leadership will listen to them and act favorably, said Leah Salazar, president of the DENR Eastern Visayas employees’ group.
The workers are referring to the P100,000 housing assistance to government employees whose houses were totally destroyed, and P30,000 for those with partially damaged houses.
About 500 DENR employees in the region have been waiting for disbursement of this post-disaster aid.
“Yolanda,” considered as the world’s strongest typhoon to hit land, pummeled the region on Nov. 8, 2013, destroying countless houses and claiming more than 6,000 lives in the region.
Responding to the clamor, the central government allocated in 2015 some P2.25 billion to help affected government workers rebuild their houses.
Covered employees are those living in Regions 4-B, 5, 6, 7, and 8, whose houses were totally, heavily, or partially damaged by the 2013 monster typhoon. The benefit also included victims of the Bohol earthquake that struck a month before Yolanda.