ALMOST three years after the “Yolanda” tragedy, the victims of the powerful storm are even “worse off” than before it struck, with no permanent shelter and livelihood, according to the findings of the just-concluded study of Social Watch Philippines.
The study says the victims are poorer and more vulnerable, and their recovering has been “agonizingly slow.” It says the sorry state of the super storm’s survivors is the result of the Aquino administration’s failure to help them.
‘‘Yolanda’’”•international name ‘‘Haiyan’’”•killed at least 6,300 people and left thousands more injured and homeless when it made landfall in Leyte on Nov. 8, 2013. It was the strongest storm recorded at landfall.
Social Watch’s study was conducted in Tacloban City for resettlement only; in Tolosa, MacArthur, Dulag, Mayorga in Leyte, and in Basey (Samar) and Salcedo (Eastern Samar) for all the recovery efforts cited.
“The Yolanda recovery and reconstruction is agonizingly slow and miserably falling short,” SWP co-convenor Isagani Serrano says in the study.
“Our findings in these municipalities represent the overall status of implementation as reported by the national government. There’s a huge gap between what was planned, budgeted and received by the intended beneficiaries. The implementation is marred by inefficiencies, lack of information and transparency and other institutional weaknesses.”
The study found only eight-percent completion of the target housing units in the municipalities covered by the study.
Only 19,330 out of the 205,128 intended to provide shelter to the victims were completed and 98,393 housing units are still being constructed.
SWP finished its study tracking the government’s funding for Yolanda reconstruction and rehabilitation in seven cities and municipalities in Eastern Visayas.
The group criticized the dismal implementation of the reconstruction and rehabilitation as it urged the Duterte Administration to immediately start spending money that is already appropriated for the Yolanda victims.
“The government has reneged on its promise to build back better in the Yolanda-hit areas,” Serrano said.
“Almost three years after the monster storm, the victims are even worse off than before with no permanent shelter and livelihood and are poorer and more vulnerable. It was the failure of the previous administration but we expect President [Rodrigo] Duterte to address this with utmost urgency and do better.”
Serrano says SWP’s Public Expenditure Tracking Tool was used in monitoring the funds spent and the status of the implementation of the programs, projects and activities in resettlement, livelihood, emergency shelter assistance, education and health.
Of the target 14,433 housing units, Serrano says, the National Housing Authority was able to complete the construction of 1,137 units in Tacloban City only and none in the other municipalities covered by the study.
In a recent forum that SWP organized with the government agencies, local government officials and civil society partners in these areas, Serrano says, the representative of the NHA in Region 8 claimed 42 percent of the target was substantially completed.
Of the target housing units, some 5,852 in Tacloban city, 30 in Mayorga (Leyte), and 170 in Basey were completed.
Serrano says the National Economic Development Authority reported in its website that as of March 2016, the completion rate of the houses for the Yolanda victims was only nine percent and and 42 percent of the target housing units had not even started.
The representative of the Department of Agriculture in Region VIII who attended the forum said their budget for the Quick Response Fund was P502 million.
Of the amount, Serrano says, the agency returned P27 million to the Bureau of Treasury because they were not able to spend the money.
“The DA representative said the procurement process was questioned by the Commission on Audit , which caused the delay in the delivery of planting materials, seeds, tractors and other assistance,” Serrano said.
The representatives of the DA and PCA said the Department of Budget and Management had not released their allocation for the Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Program, Serrano said.
“We are rebuilding communities not to bring them back to their pre-disaster situation of poverty and vulnerability. If the Yolanda reconstruction is our benchmark for building back better, it’s a big wonder how we would “be able to face up to the worse that’s yet to come.”
SWP urged Duterte to create a central agency with a regional counterpart that should be able to coordinate with local government units, and with a clear mandate and funds to coordinate and address the problems in the implementation of the reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts for Yolanda’s victims and the victims of other disasters in the future.
