#YolandaPH: Eastern Visayas starts rebuilding

CEBU, Philippines - Rebuilding takes time, effort and  money. This is the lesson that the people and government officials of typhoon-hit areas in Eastern Visayas have learned almost a year after Yolanda hit the region.

Areas in Eastern Visayas that felt the fury of the storm surge caused by super typhoon Yolanda are still in the process of rebuilding houses and buildings that were destroyed at the height of the typhoon last year.

Tacloban city

 Aside from having to accept that his city has the highest number of deaths, Mayor Alfred Romualdez of Tacloban also has to deal with what he claims to be slow-paced rehabilitation efforts.

 The mayor is disappointed with the delay on efforts to provide shelter for Yolanda victims, especially in his city.

“Now, even ang shelter ng mga tao talagang medyo mabagal doon. Parang ngayon pa lang nag-uumpisa,” he said.

Typhoon victims in Tacloban either live in tents or bunkhouses.

According to data from the Tacloban City Housing and Community Development Office, there are still 353 families who live in tents in different barangays in the city as of October 31 this year.

A total of 68 families are living in tents in Barangay 88 but these families are set to be transferred to bunkhouses construc-ted by the International Pharmaceuticals Inc., National Housing Authority and the local government unit. Some 66 families who live in tents in Barangay 89, and 191 families from Barangay 90 are set for relocation to the transitional shelters of Green Mindanao and Oxfam located in the same barangays by November 30.

Some 28 families living in tents in Barangay 58 are also scheduled for relocation thru the land rental subsidy and transitional shelter program of Catholic Relief Services in Barangay Otap.

A total of 1,053 families live in bunkhouse communities all over the city such as the NHA Bunkhouse Community in Caibaan, the IPI Bunkhouse Community in Maharlika, and the community in Abucay.

There are also different temporary housing projects all over the city which are funded by go-vernment and private organizations such Operation Compassion-PDRF, IOM-DSWD, Operation Compassion HUMEDICA-450 and Tzu Chi Foundation. These government and private institution partnerships aim to construct over a thousand temporary houses. NHA also aims to finish constructing a total of 11,221 housing units in the resettlement sites in Barangay Calabawan, San Isidro, Tagpuro and Salvacion.

Romuladez said government agencies tasked to undertake and monitor housing projects should concentrate on what they have to do to avoid delays.

“Pero unfortunately wala kaya napapabayaan,” he said.

If rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson is frustrated with the slow development of the rehabilitation programs for Yolanda victims, Romualdez said that affected local governments feel the same way, too, sometimes even more discouraged and aggravated.

“Siyempre ayaw rin natin maging burden palagi sa national government pero tulungan ninyo naman kami para makabangon naman kami. If he is frustrated, ano pa kaya ang mga tao,” he said.

If there are delays in the rebuilding of houses for Yolanda victims, there are also problems in the rebuilding of infrastructure destroyed by the super typhoon.

The Daniel Romualdez Airport in Tacloban City was temporarily closed for 24 hours last September 3 to repair the potholes on the runway. The terminal and runway were badly damaged during the onslaught of super typhoon Yolanda.

Flights using small turbo-propeller planes have resumed after the said repair but those that use big aircraft like the Airbus A320 or Boeing B737 are not allowed to use the airport until the 12.7-centimeter asphalt overlay of the entire runway will be completed.

The Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said that a total of 24 daily flights to and from Tacloban  are affected by the closure.

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines canceled its six flights to and from Tacloban while budget carrier Cebu Pacific earlier cancelled its 10 Manila-Tacloban-Manila flights and four Cebu-Tacloban-Cebu flights.

Air Asia and Tiger Airways also requested to stop flying to Tacloban until repairs will be carried out.

Romualdez lamented that if the cancellation of flights will go on for a long time, the economic development and growth of the city will surely slow down.

“The economy was doing very well until they stopped allowing jets to fly into Tacloban. That’s really discouraging for the investors and business players,” he said.

He called on the national government to prioritize the airport since it is critical to the economic revitalization of the region.

“It is very unusual why it is taking that long. It is the only incident I know nationwide throughout history na ganito katagal masara ang airport or restricted ang flight of jets. That’s really hurting us,” he added.   But while there are snags along the way, Romualdez is thankful for the efforts of private organizations such as the SM Foundation for rebuilding the Tacloban City Hospital and the Rotary Club of Canada for the donation of medical supplies. 

The 38-year-old Tacloban City Hospital, which was also destroyed by the monster typhoon, has now been upgraded to a level two hospital with a 100-bed capacity and capability to conduct major surgeries.

At the height of the super typhoon, there were 35 patients and three delivery operations in the hospital. Seven months after Yolanda, Tacloban City Hospital was already able to cater 10,834 outpatients.

The Sto. Niño Church in Tacloban, which was severely damaged during the typhoon and housed thousands of evacuees, is still under repair. Mass goers have to hear masses in the plaza across the church.

The city’s superdome in Barangay Sagkahan is also still being repaired by Cebu-based Dakay Construction, said security guard Richard Nuñez whom The FREEMAN chanced upon during a visit to the dome.

Yolanda’s strong winds and storm surge damaged the dome’s rooftop, benches, airconditioning unit and electrical connections, said Nuñez, adding that looters took some of the airconditioning parts and lights, too.

During the typhoon, the storm surge entered the structure, which housed some 5,000 evacuees. Some of the evacuees who were staying on the ground floor rushed toward the second floor of the dome when the water got inside.

A stampede occurred causing the death of a young boy.

The huge dome, which used to host major events in the region such as concerts and national basketball games, now only accepts small events like school programs or barangay activities, said Nuñez.

Palo, Leyte

Mayor Remedios Petilla of Palo, on the other hand, was happy with the progress of the rebuilding efforts in her municipality a year after the typhoon struck.

“Although we have not fully recovered, because it will take some time, I could say we have recovered and we are recovering fast,” she told The FREEMAN.

She expressed gratitude to the generosity of the national government, other local government units, non-government organizations, the private sector and like-minded individuals.  

P6 million was spent for the repair of the second floor of the municipal hall while another P5 million was allotted for the reconstruction of Palo’s civic center.

Petilla said that she plans to renovate their public market since it was built many years ago and a portion of the structure collapsed due to the storm surge. She eyes to spend P200 million for the two-storey structure.

She added that the repair of government facilities and other infrastructure is almost done.

For now, the mayor said that they are busy with the construction of 400 housing units, in coordination with the Tzu Chi Foundation, so those who still live in bunk houses will be relocated to proper resettlement sites by November 8.

An additional 180 houses is also being built by the GMA Kapuso Foundation.

The beneficiaries of the houses, she said, are those who lived in the areas that have been declared as no-build zones and those from coastal barangays.

Palo, Leyte is composed of 33 barangays, six of which are coastal barangays. The municipality has a population of 67,000.

Businesses in the area, the mayor said, are already back to normal. The government is also working on providing livelihood for the residents, especially the fisher folks.

Classes in Palo resumed December of last year albeit classes were held in makeshift classrooms. There are still classes being held in tents, Petilla said. She, however, added that the construction of permanent classrooms for all the schools in the municipality is already underway.

Also ongoing is the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Palo Metropolitan Cathed-ral. Its ceiling, windows and altar were damaged by the super typhoon.

The rehabilitation is a joint project of the Archdiocese of Palo and the Phinma Foundation, Inc., which started last February and is targeted to be fi-nished by December this year.

The Palo Cathedral served as an evacuation center at the height of Yolanda and it also housed the memorial grave of those who died during the super typhoon.

Ormoc city

The major government infrastructures in Ormoc City were destroyed by Yolanda. The city’s super dome, its church, hospitals, bus terminals markets and even the City Hall were no match for Yolanda’s strong winds and the storm surge. The city has one government and three private hospitals. Follo-wing Yolanda, Ormoc Doctors Hospital was the only one that remained operational.

Ormoc City officials had to deal with limited funds and assistance from the national go-vernment during the first phase of their rehabilitation efforts.

Ormoc City Councilor Pedro Ebcas, also chairman for operations of the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, said that as far as rehabilitation is concerned, they are still working on their short term projects. These include projects like civic centers, markets, public market, and the city’s superdome, which housed thousands of evacuees during the typhoon.

Ebcas said the city has already received funding from the Department of the Interior and Local Government in the amount of P73,104,000 or 80 percent of the supposed P91 million funding they are supposed to get.

Of the amount they received, Ebcas said, P40,800,000 was intended for the rehabilitation of the superdome and the P32,304,000 for the public market.

“And as soon as ma-liquidate nato ang first nga gi-release nila, then they will be releasing the final 20 percent. So ongoing ni tanan karon ang atong rehabilitation efforts,” said Ebcas.

Since the local government had to continue to function immediately after typhoon Yolanda, Ebcas said they utilized part of their CDRRMC fund for the repair of their City Hall, which was badly damaged.

“Malata ang City Hall if we wait for funding. We cannot wait for the release from the national government and to think that we have to function. We keep on telling the people we have to go back to our normal set up. So how we can say we are normal kung ang atop wala? Fortunately, we had sufficient funds from the CDRRM Fund,” he said.

The councilor said they had a trust fund of almost a hundred million, which has accumulated for the last four years that there were no major disasters.

Part of the CDRRM fund, Ebcas continued, was also used for the repair of their water system and the improvement of their sanitary landfill.

“Importante man sad kaayo namo diri ang debris management because imagine the volume of debris after typhoon Yolanda. So we have to manage the landfill,” the councilor added.

Part of Mayor Edward Codilla’s first order of business, Ebcas said, was to restore electricity, which they eventually achieved by March this year.

“Imagine, we have to spend close to P350,000 a day just for fuel for our generator set to keep our water pumps operating,” he added.

Bidding is also underway for the reconstruction of the sea port and bus terminal in the city, which visitors and tourists first see upon arriving at Ormoc.

Even with piles of debris, the city’s public market resumed operations a week after the typhoon so that many people, particularly from Tacloban City, flocked to the Ormoc City market to buy goods, said Market Administrator Delia Vilbar, who is also the assistant city treasu-rer.

Vilbar said they also focused on cleaning the market, which is one of those that contributed to their economy.

At least 26,000 houses or 90 percent of the total number of houses from all 110 barangays of Ormoc City were battered by super typhoon Yolanda. Of the figure, 14,000 were totally destroyed while 12,000 were damaged.

Typhoon survivors, especially those who were left homeless, were made to stay at bunk houses in barangays Can-ontog and Concepcion, each barangay with at least 556 units.

Ebcas said Mayor Codilla had to temporarily use his 50-hectare lot in both barangays for the construction of the bunkhouses. — /QSB (FREEMAN)