TACLOBAN CITY-“We too wanted to see the Pope!” Thus said some 250 families displaced by supertyphoon Yolanda now temporary taking shelters in bunk houses in Palo, Leyte. The families are asking Catholic Church officials to intervene on their behalf amid reports that they would be relocated to other areas by the municipal government before the arrival of Pope Francis to Leyte next year.

According to the victims, who most of them have lost family members and loved ones during the disaster, they will be moved away from their present bunk houses in the Government Center Area in Barangay Candahug to another resettlement areas in upland villages because the site is said to be used for a vigil during the Pope’s visit. Delia Coritana, 45, who lost her husband and a child, said she felt being deprived of an opportunity to see the Pope in person if the plan will push through either on October or November. “We were informed that this area will be cleaned. We are hurt; we feel like we are being thrown away. We feel that they are ashamed of us. Please help us,” Coritana said in an interview. Reports said that the families would be sheltered in Barangay Tacuranga where several bunk houses remain unused up to this time since these were constructed by the national government. Coritana said that once the Holy Father leaves Leyte after his visit, they would be asked to return again to their bunk houses.

Jose Aldeza, another survivor, said he is opposing the plan because the bunk houses in the village of Tacuranga, about 7 kilometers away from their present location, will bring further inconvenience to them.
“We are requesting that if they are going to proceed with the plan, we hope that they can wait until Christmas vacation so that the schooling of our children will not be stopped,” he said. “We are saddened by the news. We are asking for help that the plan will not happen,” said Ronalyn Sabala, 34, shelter leader in the area. Although Sabala said that they are left with no choice if the plan will be implemented, she is also appealing to Palo Mayor Remedios Petilla that their impending transfer will be deferred until classes will take a break on December this year.

According to Sabala, they were not told exactly when they would be asked to move out from their present temporary shelters. “If we will be transferred next month or by November, what would happen to our children who are still in school? The travel time and cost of transportation will be an additional burden to us,” Sabala said. Sabala said that they are having a signature campaign for their petition to the mayor, hoping that their move “will soften her heart and that she will listen to our plea.” Sabala added that that are also willing to transfer if the new area where they will be brought into is already ready for permanent housing. The survivors said that they would transfer to the new site if it would mean permanent shelter for them. (RONALD O.REYES)

ORMOC CITY- The U.S. government and the provincial government of Leyte hosted two conferences on September 22 to 24 to improve service delivery and build climate change resilience. More than 180 participants from Leyte province water districts and small-scale water service providers (WSPs) attended the events organized by U.S. Embassy Manila’s United States Agency for International Development (USAID), through its Water Security for Resilient Economic Growth and Stability (Be Secure) Project. Be Secure aims to increase access to sustainable water supply and wastewater treatment services and strengthen climate resilience in six focal areas including Leyte Province.

The three-day conference entitled “Accelerating Water Security and Climate Resiliency among Small Water Service Providers in Leyte Province” addressed challenges that small-scale WSPs face during natural disasters. Typhoon Yolanda (international name Haiyan), one of the strongest typhoons ever recorded in history, caused massive devastation to Leyte province including to its water systems and other infrastructure. Deborah Bertulfo, Board member of the 4th district of Leyte, and Ms. Dani Newcomb, USAID/Philippines’ Water and Adaptation Team Leader delivered key messages during the opening session of the day’s events.

“Water is vital for sustainable development. Water service providers must be able to deliver water reliably and to look for innovative ways to make water systems more resilient,” Ms. Bertulfo said. During the conference, WSPs from the province learned strategies to enhance their water supply systems. The conference facilitated peer-to-peer knowledge exchange and coordination among small WSPs. Conference experts represented various Philippine government agencies including the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development, National Water Resources Board, and other organizations such as the National Water and Sanitation Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Business for Social Progress. USAID also organized the two-day “Understanding Climate Change and Its Projected Impacts on Water Resources and Water Utilities” conference which highlighted the urgency for water service providers to take action on climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction.

In her presentation, USAID Be Secure’s Climate Resiliency Team Leader Bebet Gozun stated that, “Recent strong typhoons like Yolanda, Sendong and Ondoy highlight the vulnerability of the water sector to the impacts of natural disasters. We continue to encourage government and private sector partners to take urgent adaptation measures to reduce vulnerability and build resiliency to ensure sustainable water supply.”
Both conferences culminated with participants developing action plans that will serve as the basis for further support and engagement.

The USAID Be Secure Project addresses interrelated issues to facilitate access to improved drinking water supplies. In close coordination with the Philippine government, USAID/Philippines promotes good governance and builds capacity in water security to promote improved access to water services and more resilient communities. This contributes to the US-Philippines’ Partnership for Growth goal of achieving more inclusive and resilient growth for all Filipinos. (PR)

TACLOBAN CITY- The National Maritime Polytechnic (NMP) has announced the temporary suspension of some of courses it is offering. This was disclosed by NMP executive director Forter Puguon who said that temporary suspension of the courses was made pending results on the assessment of their compliance and accreditation from the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA).  The suspension was enforced since September 22, 2014 which includes courses on engine, deck, safety medical and security, environmental protection and maritime allied, while still offering faculty development courses.  “We are closely looking into reviewing all the requirements including facilities, the trainors and of course the courses itself,” Puguon said in a press conference held at their office located in Barangay Cabalawan, this city.

Puguon added that they had a meeting with MARINA on July 31 of this year and requested for an inspection so that they will know what are still needed. During the inspection it was found out that some of the courses lack some requirements prompting MARINA to temporarily suspend its trainings while complying with the requirements. “As to our view we can continue conducting but they have the final decision. We have to respect their decision to suspend. But MARINA respected our trainings up to September 19 this year,” Puguon said. Puguon said that there are still other maritime training schools in other parts of the country although NMP is the only such facility that is run by the government. More than 50 percent of the trainees of the NMP are from the region while the rest are from Central Visayas and Mindanao regions.
“More than fifty percent of our seafarers are from Eastern Visayas followed by Cebu which comprise twenty five percent then Mindanao around ten to fifteen percent while others from different places in Luzon, they are the ones fully affected by the devastation and while waiting for our efforts to restore its full operation,” Puguon said.

Puguon added that seafarers chooses NMP for maritime training because not only because due to its low fees but due to its good quality and high standard services. The NMP has submitted its application for accreditation to MARINA August of last year which the latter has yet to take action. He further added that NMP is now having a problem on how they can refund the money of those who already paid for the training. He said that NMP has an annual master list schedule of trainings. And there were clients who already paid and scheduled their trainings up to December this year. “Our problem now is how we can return the money to those who already paid for the trainings up to December and they cannot wait when we can fully operate. How can we return their money that we already submitted to the Bureau of Treasury, and we could not get that easily,” Puguon said. Puguon assured their clients that NMP will resume its services once they comply all the needed requirements adding that they are now fast tracking its rehabilitation after the devastation of Yolanda. (JENNIFER SUMAGANG-ALLEGADO)

STA.FE, Leyte- An official of this town said that bidding for the repair of two structures damaged during the onslaught of supertyphoon Yolanda would be scheduled soon. Councilor Eddie Lantajo, chairman on the committee on infrastructures of the town council, said that the bidding is for the repair of the municipal gymnasium and public market, both sustained major damages due to Yolanda.

According to Lantajo, the repair of the two public structures would be financed under the Recovery Assistant to Yolanda (RAY) of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG). The official said that their town received P3.6 million of which P1.1 million would be used for the repair of the public market with the remaining amount of P2.5 million for the rehabilitation of the town’s gymnasium. The town gymnasium was undergoing repair with the funds coming from Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin “FM” Romualdez. Lantajo also said that the on-going repair of their municipal gym was one of the proposed projects submitted by Rep.Romualdez to the Department of Public Works and Highways in which they started the implementation last July 7 of this year.

On the other hand, the Committee on Infrastructure of the SB of Sta. Fe they wants to fast track the implementation of these projects for they are afraid that the fund may be returned to the DILG once the projects will not be implemented within this year. Aside from this, they want the people of Sta. Fe to see and know that they are not preventing the LGU of implementing this project. Lantajo said that they are aiming to hasten the repair works of the two structures for fear that the budget allocated for the works might be reverted back to the national treasury if they could not finish them before the end of the year.

Earlier, DILG Regional Director Pedro Noval issued a warning to all local government units provided with funds under RAY to finish their rehabilitation works before December of this year otherwise the funds would be returned to them. Aside from this, the Local Government of Sta. Fe, as an adopted municipality of Quezon City, received also funding from the City Government of Quezon amounting to 22 million which will be used for the renovation of their municipal town hall. The project to be implemented under the fund which was given by the Quezon City is also in the process of bidding in which they already submitted already the program of works and other documents to the City Government of Quezon. With the various projects implemented and to be implemented in municipality of Sta. Fe, the Committee on Infrastructure expects that all of the projects will be finished before the year ends. (RYAN GABRIEL ARCENAS)

TACLOBAN CITY- A total of P13 billion were donated by is country to the Philippine government when supertyphoon Yolanda hit the country close to a year now. This was disclosed by British Ambassador to the Philippines Asif Ahmad during his visit to Tacloban on September 23. “Most of it was spent directly to help feed and provide emergency shelter, washing facilities and hygiene. The remaining funds will enable them to unlock what is needed to be done for preparedness for future disasters,” Ahmad said in an interview during his visit in Barangay 88, San Jose district, worst hit area in Tacloban. Ahmad said that the fundamental shift now or what the Philippine government wants is to take responsibility and ownership for long-term rehabilitation and their relationship with the local government units. He added that they want to see the national government “ultimately resettle everybody in a safe place,” referring to the survivors who are still living in temporary shelters or tents, almost a year after the November 8, 2013 massive typhoon.
However, he conceded that it would be difficult for the country to recover given the magnitude of destruction if the international community would not provide enough assistance. “There are still people living in tents and it really need to come to an end. But I understand that the government will transfer families in tents within this year,” he added. (DONNA BULA, LNU Intern)