TACLOBAN CITY—Survivors of Super Typhoon “Yolanda” in this city continue to assail the proposed P7.9-billion tide embankment project of the national government through the Department of Public Works and Highways and the support of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, saying it is a case of “misplaced priority.”
The “storm surge wall” project which is said to start next year will span 27.3 kilometers from Tacloban City, Palo and Tanauan in Leyte, which were devastated when typhoon Yolanda swept the central Philippines on Nov. 8, 2013.
“At a time when the government has hardly provided permanent resettlement to tens of thousands of internally displaced residents in Tacloban, two years after the tragedy, any development project that will attempt to displace Yolanda survivors again should squarely answer their question: why?” Marissa Cabaljao, a spokesperson of People Surge, a coalition of storm survivors in Eastern Visayas, said.
She also asked how the project merited funding when the basic resettlement issues still have to be settled squarely.
According to Cabaljao, they opposed the project because the government should first “prioritize safe and humane settlement for Yolanda survivors; ensure Yolanda survivors’ access to basic social services, public utilities, and livelihood.”
The three areas were badly devastated when typhoon Yolanda struck the central part of the country on Nov. 8, 2013, killing about 7,500.
Amid protests, the government said there is no more stopping on the construction of tide embankment.
