Two years after super-typhoon Yolanda
TWO years ago today, super-typhoon Yolanda slammed into Eastern Visayas, catching everyone – the government as well as the people – unprepared for the destruction caused by the powerful winds and the storm surge that swept in from the sea. The casualties were unprecedented: 6,193 dead, 28,689 injured, 1,061 missing.
It took the government a year to come up with a master plan – the Yolanda Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan – for which ₱167.9 billion was proposed. Of the total amount, ₱75.6 billion was for resettlement of survivors; ₱35.1 billion for infrastructure projects; ₱30.6 billion for livelihood projects; and ₱26.4 billion for social services.
Another year has passed since approval of that master plan and Social Watch Philippines (SWP) this week reported its findings on the progress of the rehabilitation work. It said the Department of Agriculture requested ₱1.217 billion for agricultural infrastructure projects and submitted all needed documents in May, 2015, but as of August, 2015, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) had not released the funds.
For livelihood projects, only about 25 percent of the investment requirements has been released by DBM, according to SWP.
The SWP noted that despite the great devastation suffered by the agricultural sector, the DA and Philippine Coconut Agency (PCA) received only 29 percent and 27 percent of their allocated funds, respectively. In contrast, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) received 122 percent of its funding requirements in the Yolanda rehabilitation master plan, while the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) received 121 percent, SWP convenor Leonor Magtolis Briones, former national treasurer, said.
A week earlier, the Commission on Audit (CoA) issued a related report on funds for Yolanda victims. The Office of Civil Defense (OCD), the CoA report said, received ₱137 million from various government agencies and other sources as donations for Yolanda rehabilitation work, but it just deposited the donations in a trust account at the Development Bank of the Philippines, where the money has earned
₱1.7 million in interest. The CoA report cited anew its earlier finding that ₱382 million in local and foreign cash donations for Yolanda’s victims – 33 percent of the ₱1.15 billion the DSWD received from donors – remain in DSWD’s bank accounts.
There have been widespread complaints about the slow progress of the rehabilitation program for the Yolanda devastated areas. Of the 205,128 housing units planned for the typhoon victims, only 16,000 units have been completed. Rep. Alfredo Benitez, chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development, has thus called for a House inquiry, saying the ineptness and failure of the agencies concerned cannot be tolerated.
So this is the situation today, two years after Yolanda struck on November 8, 2013. There are, no doubt, many reasons for the poor record. There are even suspicions – such as those aired by Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. – that the unused funds may be diverted to the campaign funds of administration candidates in the coming presidential election.
We trust that it will not come to this and we continue to hope that the rehabilitation program for the Yolanda-devastated areas will be stepped up, so that when we once again recall Yolanda a year from now, it will be – not with criticism as many have voiced today – but with thanksgiving that finally all is well.