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Six years on, Haiyan victims still wait for homes

Graft, lack of will blamed for failure to provide many survivors with decent housing following typhoon devastation
Six years on, Haiyan victims still wait for homes

Survivors of Super Typhoon Haiyan that hit the central Philippines in 2013 continue to call for rehabilitation of their communities six years after the disaster. (Photo: Angie de Silva)

Published: November 13, 2019 02:51 AM GMT
Updated: November 13, 2019 02:51 AM GMT

Six years after Super Typhoon Haiyan devastated the central Philippines and left about 6,500 people dead and millions homeless, survivors continue to cry for justice.

The government's failure to address inefficiency and corruption to the detriment of those most affected by the 2013 disaster is shameful, they say.

About 100 people from the central Philippines trooped to the capital Manila this week to call for an investigation into the way reconstruction of devastated communities is being handled.

"It is disappointing that this has continued under [President Rodrigo Duterte's] administration," said Lita Bagunas, a community leader from Eastern Samar province.

Soon after his election in 2016, Duterte vowed not to tolerate corruption and inefficiency in the reconstruction of devastated areas.

One of the major complaints is the construction of substandard housing projects. Alleged anomalies were discovered during congressional investigations.

Aaron Pedrosa, the spokesman of another survivors' organization, said these probes should have forced changes in the government’s reconstruction program.

In many areas in Eastern Samar province, residents refused houses given to them by the government because of allegedly substandard materials and workmanship.

In Glendale, one of the biggest housing sites in the city of Tacloban, of 377 units completed, 80 remain unoccupied while 13 others were only used on weekends.

In the town of Busuanga, the rebuilding of the community has not even started. A two-hectare lot was acquired by the municipality, but there is no sign yet of housing going up for 150 displaced families.

In Culion in Palawan province, only six out of 272 houses have been partially constructed in the last six months. In Iloilo, corporate-led reconstruction failed to provide promised housing for 746 families.

During this week’s observance of the sixth anniversary of the Haiyan disaster, the government announced that it would complete all housing projects intended for the survivors by next year.

"Our original target was to complete all housing by the end of 2019, but realistically we cannot do that because 2019 is about to end," said Cabinet Secretay Karlo Alexei Nograles.

He said extending the completion timeline is in response to a presidential order to not just build a township and not just housing structures.

Nograles said the government is imposing strict compliance with specifications among contractors to ensure housing quality.

Zeena Manglinong of the Freedom from Debt Coalition group, however, said the problems raised by the people "point to a failure by the government to stop and address inefficiency and corruption in the reconstruction process."

She said that three years into the Duterte presidency, "it may be a little too late to expect changes in reconstruction under the current administration."

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