THE camp of former vice president Jejomar Binay on Wednesday criticized Vice President Leni Robredo following her statement she was disappointed over the government’s “slow” construction of resettlement houses for victims of Super Typhoon “Yolanda” that hit the country in 2013.
“She has also been reported as requesting an audit. If the vice president is interested in quick answers, may we suggest that she ask her running mate Mar Roxas and ex-Budget chief Butch Abad. Both of them were given major roles by the previous administration in the “Yolanda” rehabilitation program. We hope that aside from quick answers, they give honest answers as well,” said Binay’s spokesman Joey Salgado.
Roxas served as the secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government while Abad was the Budget secretary in the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, who endorsed the candidacy of the Roxas-Robredo tandem in the May 9 presidential elections.
Salgado said Robredo should also consider the observations of the United Nations decrying the failure of the previous administration to build decent and sufficient permanent housing for the victims two years after Yolanda.
As late as 2015, the UN noted that, in both temporary and permanent housing, the provision of water, adequate sanitation and electricity remain “seriously problematic.”
“Apparently, this problem still persists, according to the Vice President herself. The question that should be asked and answered is what actions were taken by the previous administration to address these long-festering issues, if they acted at all,” said Salgado.
Chaloka Beyani, a UN special rapporteur who visited the country from July 21 to 31 last year, noted that many families remain housed in collective bunkhouses “that do not meet necessary minimum standards for the provision of basic needs and services and create numerous safety and protection challenges, particularly for women and girls who face threats including sexual abuse and early pregnancy, as well as failing to provide conditions of privacy and dignity.”
“Regrettably some families seem to have fallen through the protection safety net and remain living in substandard shelter in areas designated as ‘no-build’ or ‘hazardous’ due to the likelihood of future hazards,” the UN official added.”©”©
Salgado said “two months from now we will mark the third year of Yolanda. And going by the observations of the Vice President, we will also be marking the third year of the man-made sufferings inflicted by an inept and uncaring administration on the typhoon victims.””©”©
“Vice President Robredo might also want to ask Abad about the status of foreign funds for Yolanda victims,” he said. “©”©
“Based on news reports, the UN official also noted ‘funding shortfalls.’ We find this puzzling since the previous administration has always claimed it had sufficient funds for Yolanda victims,” said Salgado.”©
He added: “There were also foreign funds committed to the Philippine government. But a six-month financial audit of these foreign funds conducted by Social Watch Philippines (SWP) revealed that only P47 billion out of the P167.9 billion committed funds were downloaded as of June 2015. What is the status of the rest of the funds?””©