Yolanda survivors cry, shout, wait

Bantayan storm survivors seek strength, release of shelter aid

Sta. Fe, Bantayan –  Bells pealed. Sirens and horn blasts filled the air in the early morning.

At exactly 8 a.m., people gathered at the town plaza shouted, shrieked and howled non-stop.

“You can really see the Filipino spirit is strong and indomitable,” said Sta. Fe Mayor Jose Esgana, who led the noise barrage to commemorate the first year anniversary of the strongest typhoon to hit land devastated the town and parts of northern Cebu.

Some people beat drums made from scraps of tin roof sheets and wooden posts that ripped off during the Nov. 8 , 2013 storm.

Residents of Sta Fe town in Bantayan Island bang giant pot covers. (CDN PHOTO/ TONEE DESPOJO)

Yolanda survivors shout aloud in a noise barrage that expresses the strength of their ‘survivor spirit” as well as frustration over the slow release of national government aid one year after typhoon Yolanda struck. The activity was held in the town plaza.
(CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)

A beach cleanup, a flotilla of donated bancas and simple program was held capped by a torch parade by the beach in the evening.

The banshee yells of the community were earlier described as a traditional way of “driving away bad spirits”.

EXASPERATED
Mayor Esgana said the activities were also a way to uplift the spirits of island residents, who are exasperated by the slow process of rehabilitation and delayed release of national government aid.

Despite the delay, he said Bantayan residents remain “strong” and didn’t rely on the government to get back on their feet.

“The people here want to know what they can expect from the national government, some are thankful to be alive and well, while the rest are recalling what happened in Nov. 8,” he added.

Close to 90 percent of the houses in Bantayan island’s three towns – Bantayan, Sta. Fe and Madridejos – were flattened with property damage estimated to reach P2 billion.

A torch procession by the beach in Sta Fe, Bantayan caps the day’s activities commemorating one year after super typhoon Yolanda. (CDN PHOTO/ TONEE DESPOJO)

Many residents are still waiting to receive the promised P30,000 for families whose houses were destroyed and P10,000 for partly damaged houses.

In a program at Bantayan town’s public plaza, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III was confronted about the non-release of  this Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

“Gov, ikaw ang giasahan sa mga tawo aning emergency shelter assistance fund. Maabot pa ba ni? (Gov, the people rely on you for the ESA. Will this ever arrive?),” asked the barangay captain of Cabangbang.

Davide was asked the same question by residents in a relocation site in barangay Sillon, Bantayan town.

Not a single resident in Bantayan town has received the shelter aid a year after the storm struck Bantayan, the worst-hit municipality in Cebu.

Put on the spot, Davide said the cash aid will arrive but  may take “a little longer to happen.”

He said the Capitol would continue pressing DSWD for the fund release as part of Cebu’s P12.2 recovery and rehabilitation plan.

“Sometimes, we have problems that are completely out of our hands,” he said.

“But have faith in your municipality. Have faith in the province. Have faith in yourselves. It will take a little longer but it will happen.”

Davide came with Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale and Task Force Paglig-on head Baltazar Tribunalo.

FIVE PERCENT ONLY
Only P118.5 million or less than 5 percent of a P2.4 billion budget for Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) have been released to typhoon victims in Cebu towns of Madridejos, Sta. Fe in Bantayan and  Tabuelan, Tuburan, Sogod, and Bogo City in mainland Cebu, according to the DSWD in a forum on Friday.

Bantayan is among ten local government units (LGUs) in the province that have not received the shelter aid.

The others left out are municipalities of Borbon, Daanbantayan, Medellin, Pilar, Poro, San Francisco, San Remigio, Tabogon and Tudela.

Bantayan is supposed to receive P375.8 million for the ESA since 9,696 houses were recorded destroyed  in the town and  another 7,600 that were partially damaged.

Neighboring  towns already received their aid like Sta. Fe (P5.5 million) and Madridejos (P66.4 million).

So far, DSWD has only released P118 million to LGUs out of the total P2.45 billion earmarked for Cebu province for shelter aid.

INJUSTICE
A placard-bearing protest rally was staged in the town plaza just before the Yolanda memorial program started.

Aaron Pedrosa, Sanlakas national secretary general,  called the government’s rehabilitation efforts a “total failure” with most victims still living in tents.

He said less than one percent of the 200,000 displaced families in the Yolanda corridor in the Visayas lack proper housing and are left with no clear livelihood programs.

“After one year, they’re still giving out relief goods, where’s the rehabilitation? Why did it take two years for the President to sign the rehabilitation plan?,” he added.

Mayor Escario said he allowed the group to stage the rally to raise their concerns because they had a “valid reason” for it.

For his part, Tribunalo said the protesters should have attended the dialog.

“Wa man ta nagpabaya. We just focused on concerns between life and death. Now, we can address things within our capacity,” he said.

“But when it concerns national funds, we can’t do anything with that. I remain confident that these will be addressed in time,” said Tribunalo.

“The governor was willing, the vice governor as well. That’s the reason why we came here to hear the sentiments of the people,” he explained.

After Bantayan town, Governor Davide went to Madridejos to distribute  roof sheets and other construction materials for Yolanda victims.

Then he went to Sta. Fe town and visited another relocation site by Habitat for Humanity in barangay Maricaban.He flew back to Cebu City on board a chopper by 3 p.m.

Related Stories:

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Families in hardest-hit Bantayan town still living in makeshift shelters nearly a year after Yolanda