Sendong victims ask: Where are our houses?

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines – Four years after Tropical Storm Sendong struck this city, at least 6,000 families who lost their homes have yet to transfer to permanent housing units.

At the commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the typhoon in Gaston Park here yesterday, members of the Aksyon sa Kahandaan sa Kalamidad at Klima (Akma-CDO) urged the government to fast-track their relocation.

Akma-CDO secretariat head Nestor Banuag said several hectares of land were allocated for Sendong victims in Barangays Indahag, Balubal, Pagatpat and Lumbia here and in Opol town in Misamis Oriental.

“Until now, they are just that, vacant lands,” Banuag said.

Sendong, which struck on the night of Dec. 16, 2011, left 734 persons dead, 500 missing and thousands of families homeless.