For Yolanda families, a long wait for gov’t aid
BABATNGON, Leyte – Jose Alsade is one of hundreds of survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda in this coastal town and in Tacloban City that are still waiting for government help four years after the world's strongest storm devastated the islands of Leyte and Samar.
A pedicab driver Alsade survived not only Yolanda but Typhoon Urduja that devastated his barangay last year.
Alsade said his house was badly damaged by Yolanda and three years later was washed away by floods generated by Urduja.
For the past month, Alsade, his wife and two children have been staying at one of the housing units at the Channel Ridgeview Housing, an abandoned project of the National Housing Authority (NHA).
Alsade said they are happy they survived the two calamities and have settled in at the unit despite having no electricity and water.
"We just sacrifice despite the fact that the mosquitoes here are big and we have no electricity and water," said Alsade.
He earns R100 a day from driving his pedicab, definitely not enough to feed his family.
But he has to make do with the meager income since the government has no livelihood program for the typhoon victims.
Mayor Marife Galapon Rondina admitted the problems faced by her constituents living at the NHA housing project.
Rondina said she learned that the funds for Yolanda survivors have been diverted to Marawi City by the national government, after meeting with Special Assistant Windel Avisado in Carigara, Leyte.
She said her office has no funds to bring electricity to the housing project, and the typhoon survivors have to install a connection if they can afford it.
Rondina said the funds for electrification are meant for sitios and barangays, not for the housing for the typhoon victims.
She said the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) accepted only 99 people for livelihood assistance.