Turtle pace

On the occasion of the first anniversary of the landfall of Super Typhoon Yolanda, President Aquino chose to visit Guiuan, Eastern Samar, the town at the southernmost tip of Samar Island that Yolanda made its first landfall at wee hours of Nov. 8, one year ago.

President Aquino reported his administration has delivered more than 12 million food packs to Yolanda victims. The food packs were delivered from November 15, 2013 to April 2014. After that, came a torrent of complaints because 80 percent of the victims had no livelihood or means of income to buy on their own.

Critics were claiming that the assistance being extended by his administration to the victims of Super Typhoon Yolanda was insufficient and that its rehabilitation work was slow and inefficient.      

However, President Aquino explained that his administration was carrying out long-term solutions to the destruction wrought by Yolanda and was not after quick fixes. Aquino said that like Yolanda victims, he, too, is getting impatient. But he said there was no quick solution to building back better.

Survivors from Basey and Marabut, Samar said they never received the 25 kilos of rice promised to be delivered by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), which, in fact, had been tapped to receive the biggest support in the amount of P6.06 billion, for its Quick Response Fund and feeding program.

Some 205,000 families lost their houses. As of November 9, 2014, less than a thousand houses have been built and turned over to the families displaced by the typhoon that destroyed almost everything standing. At Guiuan, President Aquino turned over only 136 houses.

DSWD Secretary Dinky Soliman admitted that 500 families were still living in tents in Tacloban. On November 9, less than 200 houses, out of the estimated 14,500 needed units, were built.

Out of the 200 permanent housing units, Mayor Alfred Romualdez said half were constructed through the efforts of the various non-government organizations (NGOs), including the GMA Kapuso Foundation.

A report of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (OPARR) showed only 364 housing units have been completed by the government in Tacloban and Tanauan in Leyte.

The strongest proof of the administration’s slow pace of rehabilitation and recovery was in the schoolroom program — 2,000 schoolrooms have been completely destroyed, only less than 200 schoolrooms have been constructed so far; 17,000 schoolrooms were damaged but less than 500 have been repaired so far.

For such a simple project like constructing schoolrooms, the Department of Education (DepEd) and DPWH did not build or repair a single classroom from November 2013 to June 2014, the start of the new school year.

Most of the schoolhouses built were donated by ABS-CBN who built 149 school buildings; the Tzu Chi Foundation from Taiwan, Oxfam from the United Kingdom (UK), United States, France, South Korea, and other foreign donors as well as private donors. 

Tzu Chi Foundation is building 2,000 houses while SM Corp. is building 1,000 houses.

President Aquino and PARR

President Aquino and Secretary Ping Lacson explained that United Nations (UN) officials have said that the pace of Philippine rehabilitation efforts is faster than Bandah Aceh in Indonesia. But the damage to the Philippines was ten times bigger than Bandah Aceh.

It is not surprising that thousands from Leyte and Samar joined a protest in Tacloban City on November 7 and 8 to express their dissatisfaction with the pace of rehabilitation.

Another valid protest was the failure of government to provide jobs and livelihood to the survivors.

The cash-for-work program was implemented only for a few months and to a limited number. The Tzu Chi Foundation provided more employment and over a longer period.

At the rate the government is implementing their programs, it is likely that only 50 percent of P167-billion master plan will be finished by the time Aquino’s term ends in June 2016.

9 more policemen charged

Two policemen from Pasay City and 7 policemen in Isabela, including a chief inspector were charged with the commission of serious crimes.

PO1 Ronald Villanueva and PO2 Alas Noli Soliman were arrested for masterminding a robbery-holdup on Macapagal Avenue when two men riding-in-tandem snatched a bag containing one million from Jeffrey Rabe, a messenger of Senubi Travel and Tour Co.

Fortunately, one of the holduppers was apprehended by a Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) traffic enforcer. The holdupper named Limuel Camposagrado pointed to his accomplice Alexander Pantoja and pointed to the 2 policemen as their masterminds.

When PO1 Villanueva was arrested, he yielded P349,000.

Pantoja surrendered a 9mm pistol, which was the service firearm of P01 Villanueva.

Senior Inspector Sherwin Concha, Aurora town police chief; Inspector Rey Lopez; SPO3 Julian Obrero III; SPO1 Randolph Cauan; and PO2 Alex Abalos, Jose Soliven II and Eduardo Aban were charged with murder before the Department of Justice (DOJ) for the killing of Gabriel Ternio, Johnny Languit and Noel Te-od.

The three victims were arrested at the public market of Pinukpok, Kalinga. Their decapitated bodies were found in Barangay Tanza, Aurora.

The victims’ companion, Alexander Fernandez, who managed to escape, recounted their ordeal to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) who charged the 7 policemen involved.

Meanwhile, 50 New People’s Army (NPA) in soldier’s uniforms raided the Paluan, Occidental Mindoro Municipal Hall, killing 1 soldier and 1 policeman, wounding 4 others and taking the municipal mayor and another official as hostage.

Tidbits

Happy birthday greetings to Vice President Jejomar Binay, who is celebrating his 72nd birthday today.