DINO
Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino is facing complaints from some Tacloban City residents for his alleged failure to implement the government’s mass housing program there for survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda.
In a Sept. 15 letter addressed to President Rodrigo Duterte, copies of which were distributed to local media outlets, the four Tacloban City residents called for Dino’s ouster for failing to spearhead rehabilitation programs for their city.
In a press statement released to local media outlets, the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) said it is investigating a certain group that claimed to be undermining President Duterte’s programs in the Visayas.
“My office is looking into a certain organization going around the Visayas, who might have been undermining the programs of the president. We are investigating reports about an organization that claims to be working for the President in the grassroots level in the Visayas,” Dino stated in his press release.
In their letter, Tacloban City residents Laarni Cabatingan, Vincent Basiano, Vicente Baula, and Faye Quindor alleged that Dino is merely engaged in a “public relations (PR) blitz” and had failed to coordinate and hasten rehabilitation efforts in Yolanda-stricken areas in Eastern Visayas, specifically in Tacloban City.
“The official tasked by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to look into the housing situation is unusually silent about the inquiry (conducted by the House of Representatives),” the letter stated.
The four complainants claimed they have gathered evidence to prove their allegations against Dino that included substandard housing projects and “mediocre structures.”
They cited in particular the relocation site in North Hill Arbours in Tacloban City which the President was scheduled to inspect last January.
They said only a few houses were completed that were shown to visitors.
“The owners are not staying there because there is no source of livelihood in the relocation site. They are still waiting for the P10,000 assistance promised by the president,” they said.
They claimed that North Hill Arbours remain unsafe for occupancy, citing the absence of street lights, doors and windows to bar trespassers, as well as cracked floors and the absence of potable water system.