Group of ‘Sendong’ victims in CDO still waiting for assistance

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY , Philippines  – A group of “Sendong” victims said they are willing to wait for assistance from the government even up to next year unless they are given reassurance.

“If we were able to wait for many months since June, I think we can still wait for a few more months,” Survivors of Sendong (SOS) leader Rhodora Bulosan told The STAR the other day.

Bulosan said all they need from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is an assurance that they will eventually be given the emergency shelter assistance due them.

She said they are sick and tired of being turned away by some DSWD staffers every time they would inquire about the assistance.

“It has become so embarrassing for us, especially when our members are told that their names are not in the master list and therefore cannot avail themselves of the assistance,” Bulosan said.

The delay was the reason hundreds of SOS members from the barangays of Carmen, Kauswagan and Consolacion here staged a rally in front of the DSWD regional office recently. 

Journalist Cong Corrales, whose house in Consolacion incurred damage during the flood caused by tropical storm “Sendong” in December last year, said the assistance should have been given only to the homeowners.

“Logic dictates that the DSWD should give the building materials to the homeowners since they are obligated to repair their own houses,” Corrales said.

“If you give the renters the building materials, you are in effect encouraging more informal settlers in the city since they might as well build their own houses rather than give the materials to the homeowners,” he added. 

“What alarmed us more is the mysterious disappearance of our names in the master list. I wonder what the DSWD is doing about this. Every time my wife goes there to inquire, she is always given the runaround,” Corrales said. 

In an official statement posted on Facebook hours after the DSWD and SOS sat down for a dialogue last Thursday, DSWD regional director Araceli Solamillo said those in the master list should be given priority.

“As of this time, the DSWD prioritizes those who are included in the master list issued and approved by the Local Agency Committee of which the DSWD is a member,” Solamillo said.

Residents whose houses were built in no-build zones, including Sitio Calacala, Isla de Oro, Isla Delta, Isla Bugnao, Tambo and Isla Puntod and who were notified that they could no longer go back to these areas, will not be given the emergency shelter assistance since they are already provided with permanent shelter under the Core Shelter Assistance Program.