10 months after Yolanda, Cebu town residents still living in tents

SANTE FE, Cebu — About 40 percent of the residents of this typhoon-hit town are still living in tents ten months after typhoon "Yolanda" struck the country, a local official said.

Town mayor Jose Esgana said they are still waiting for the shelters to be provided by the national government.

"As of now, we are still awaiting the assistance especially the emergency shelter assistance coming from the [Department of Social Welfare and Development, or] DSWD," Esgana said in a recent interview.

"More than a thousand tents are still in Santa Fe and about 30 to 40 percent of our residents are still living in them," he added. 

The fourth class town, one of the three municipalities located in the picturesque Bantayan Island, has a population of about 30,000.

Each tent houses a family with an average of four members. Most of the tents are provided by non-government organizations and private donors.

Esgana said DSWD might provide them the much-awaited shelter assistance before the first anniversary of "Yolanda" on November 8.

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For now, the typhoon-affected residents are worried about floods whenever it rains.

"As of now, we can see the tents are still there. The tents are good only for six months. Now is the tenth month [of Yolanda]. It’s very sad that we still see the tents," the mayor said.

"When there are heavy rains, we pray that the floods will not reach the areas where there are tents," he added.

Esgana said the national government has given them some help but these are not enough.

"What we received is for the repair of the municipal building and public market but it cannot reach the people who were affected and whose houses were damaged," he said.

"It can help the economy, but what we are waiting for is the shelter assistance."

Esgana said about 70 percent of the resorts in this town have recovered, thanks to the rehabilitation financing program of the Trade department. He believes though that the situation in the province has not yet normalized.

"Many have provided livelihood assistance. But as long as we can’t see the houses built, we cannot say that the situation is already normal," Esgana said.

During his fifth state of the nation address last July, President Aquino announced the approval of a P12.2-billion rehabilitation plan for typhoon-devastated areas in North Cebu. About P860-million of this fund will benefit Santa Fe, Esgana said.

Despite the delay in the distribution of assistance, Esgana remains optimistic that the national government will respond to the needs of their town.

"We are hopeful, 101 percent," he said.