Fate of Pinatubo evacuees hangs as MPC task force is dismantled

MABALACAT, Pampanga – The fate of 4,653 lahar-displaced families still in evacuation centers in Central Luzon is now uncertain as the remaining task force of the dissolved Mt. Pinatubo Commission (MPC) is dismantled on March 31.

"We have tried all within our resources to wind up our work but we need more time," said Flor Arrozal, administrative services director of the MPC task force.

The task force, composed of 74 personnel of the MPC, which was scrapped last December, was formed by virtue of Executive Order 269 issued by former President Estrada.

Under EO 269, Estrada tasked the Department of Budget and Management to "wind up" the work of MPC, an agency created in 1992 with a P10-billion budget to rehabilitate areas devastated by Mt. Pinatubo’s eruption in 1991 and help the displaced families.

While the task force has resettled 1,000 lahar-displaced families since last December, 4,653 others are still awaiting permanent resettlement, most of them still housed in cramped evacuation centers.

Since its creation, the MPC has provided some 50,000 families with permanent homes in at least 23 lowland and 20 upland resettlement sites.

Arrozal said Budget Undersecretary Mario Relampagos, who used to be acting executive director of MPC, is supporting the proposal to extend the task force’s term by at least three more months.

She said there is still a lot of work that needs to be done. "We still have to finalize the full accounting of the MPC’s P10-billion fund for the Commission on Audit," she said.

Last December, some 100 MPC personnel lost their jobs. The 74 employees retained for the task force are also now uncertain about their fate as proposals for them to be absorbed by other agencies involved in rehabilitation work seems unclear.

Arrozal said 1,000 more housing units for displaced families have been built since last December at the Madapdap, Sta. Lucia and Pandakaki resettlement sites in Pampanga.

The housing units were funded by the remainder of the MPC’s P10-billion budget. They were turned over by the Army’s 51st Engineering Brigade, which has been implementing the project, last December.

Arrozal said the National Housing Authority (NHA) will take over the administration and maintenance of the resettlement sites after the task force is dismantled.The lahar victims’ leaders, however, are worried that they would again be made to pay for their housing units since the NHA is a corporate government agency.