TACLOBAN CITY —The city government here is eyeing a massive relocation of families from makeshift houses in coastal communities to permanent homes starting the last week of November until January 2017.
Mayor Cristina Romualdez said the goal is to move at least 200 families every week from 19 coastal villages, from the downtown area to San Jose district near the airport.
As assessed by the city housing and community development office, at least 6,435 families affected by Typhoon “Yolanda” three years ago live in these priority areas, which accounts for more than half of the 12,642 families in 35 villages up for transfer to safer grounds.
Since 2015, more than 2,500 families have been moved to permanent homes in northern villages.
The proposed mass relocation plan has 500 families moving in each of the first four batches, with the remaining 374 families for the fifth batch.
Government agencies are working double time to provide potable water, electricity, livelihood, and classrooms for children near relocation sites, the mayor said.
“Everyone is working together to make sure that there is an increase in the number of occupied houses when President Rodrigo Duterte returns next month,” Romualdez said.
Duterte was upset over slow pace of relocation for “Yolanda”-hit families when he visited the city to grace the third year anniversary of the powerful typhoon that struck on Nov. 8, 2013. The Chief Executive promised to personally check relocation sites next month.
However, residents of coastal villages badly hit by Super Typhoon “Yolanda” have opposed the plan of the city government to demolish their houses and transfer them to resettlement sites.
Hundreds of residents in Magallanes, Sagkahan and San Jose districts trooped to the city legislative building last week to denounce the planned relocation.
Among their concerns are the distance from relocation sites to Tacloban’s commercial center and other essential services like hospitals, schools, and markets, the absence of livelihood opportunities, poor access to safe water, and absence of electricity.
“We are not opposing on the transfer, but [what] we are asking is for the government to make these houses livable,” said Belinda Ginu-o, a resident of San Jose district.
The Catholic Church, through its social action arm the National Secretariat for Social Action and Caritas Philippines, supports the residents’ appeal to stop their move to resettlement sites.
“The hurried relocation of “Yolanda” survivors by the city government is purportedly being done on the pretext of the marching order issued by President Rodrigo Duterte to complete the shelter reconstruction of “Yolanda” survivors by December this year,” the church statement said.