TACLOBAN CITY- After almost three months since Yolanda struck this city, its residents are still grappling its aftermath.
In Anibong district, one of the hardest-hit areas of the city, while several of its residents have chose to repair their houses, they are still apprehensive as to where they would be relocated by the city government.
Marvin Tabatana, 33, on his own built a new house located at the back of their previous house that was damaged by Yolanda.
Instead of getting somebody to build a new house, he decided to stop driving a motorcab- for- hire(MCH),his main source of income, to personally build his house hoping that in a month’s time, it will be finished. He has spent about P20,000 for the construction of the new house.
The money that he used for the construction of their house was from the P15,000 they received from the Tzu Chi Foundation, a Buddhist foundation that is based in Taiwan.
He and his wife also earned an additional income from the cash-for-work scheme initiated by the same foundation wherein they were paid P500 each for 15 days of work.
Despite the 40-meter no-build zone policy, Tabatana chose to build the house within the same area as he claimed that the city government has yet to inform them where they would be relocated.
Dionicia Yu, 54, also of the same area, also expressed her apprehension as to what kind of life they would have once they leave the village they considered as their home for 33 years.
She, however, said that her family would abide the government’s no build zone once it would be strictly enforced.
In San Jose, another hard-hit area, Marilyn Ocena 42, said that though they were among the thousands of residents of Tacloban who left the city during the first weeks after the storm on November 8, they chose to return to their old home located at the Fisherman’s Village together with their seven children.
The family now lives in a tent after their house was totally destroyed by Yolanda.
In Costa Brava, also in San Jose, Richard Padilla, 34,together with his wife and three children, expressed hope that he would be given help considering that he lost his car which he used for his rent-a-car business.
Now, his family together with other survivors depends on the rations being given to them by the government. Just like other those who lost their houses, the family now lives in a tent.

By: LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA

TACLOBAN CITY – Owners of 15 vessels that ran aground and stranded during the onslaught of super typhoon Yolanda are given until mid-February to either retract or salvage the vessel or else the government will take over the job.
Philippine Coast Guard Tacloban station commander Paul Gonzales warned that if owners will fail to remove the vessels by February 15, the government will assume the responsibility at the cost of the owners though.
“After February 15, the government will do it in harsh way. We will ask contractors to salvage or retract the vessels at the expense of ship owners. We can also recommend to MARINA to cancel their franchise,” Gonzales told reporters.
As of this week, only four vessels have started efforts to retract ships. These are the M/V Eva Jocelyn of Eva Shipping Lines in Mandaue City, M/V David of Candano Shipping Lines in Tabaco City, M/V Rosman owned by Richmond Ng in Quezon City, and M/V Lancer of Matsya Shipping in Cebu City.
Two other vessels has filed salvage permit. These are the M/V Gayle and M/V RKK Uno both owned by the Unilink Shipping Lines in Mandaue City.
“For other ships, we are still waiting for their application. We still have to find out their intentions to retract, refloat or make it a scrap,” Gonzales added.
To facilitate the recovery, the PCG allows the issuance of emergency salvage permit that can be approved by the Coast Guard offices in Cebu and Tacloban instead of the regular permit that only the main office is authorized to issue.
Those vessels with no application are two tug boats and a barge owned Vicente Lao Construction based in Davao City; M/V Star Hilongos of Roble Shipping Lines Inc. in Cebu City; M/V Jaguar of Tacloban Oil Mills (TOMI) in Tolosa, Leyte; M/V TOMI Elegance also of TOMI; and a dredger of the Department of Public Works and Highways main office.
M/V Ligaya-V of Avega Brothers Integrated Shipping Corp. in Makati City; M/V Eastern Star of Lilygene Shipping Lines Inc in Guiuan, Eastern Samar. Ownership of M/V Lady of Fatima, the only ship submerged off the coast of Guiuan, is still unknown.
These ships have been stranded and ran aground since November 8, 2013 during Yolanda’s onslaught in this city, notably in Anibong district. Three are in coastal villages Quinapondan and Guiuan in Eastern Samar.
Ronnie V. Arevalo, a contractor of Manila-based Dansyco Shipyard, the builder of M/V Eva Jocelyn said efforts to bring back the cargo ship to sea is the hardest job for them in their years of experience.
“The situation here is very different because the ship is stranded in a residential area and the soil is unstable due to debris, but we are confident of retracting this vessel within a month,” Arevalo said adding that they are spending nearly P100,000 weekly.

By: SARWELL Q.MENIANO

PALO, Leyte – Authorities are still hunting 35 of the 182 inmates involved in a jailbreak on January 30 from the storm-ravaged Leyte provincial jail.
Provincial Jail Warden Maria Merle Bertulfo said more policemen were deployed to the jail in Kauswagan village of this town following the daring jailbreak incident around 4:51 a.m.
“Police and jail authorities arrested 147 of the 182 escapees after five hours. It’s hard to recapture others because they used their family members as human shields,” Bertulfo told reporters.
The jail management allowed special arrangements for visitation of family members as part of stress debriefing activity for detainees after the killer storm.
Large numbers of inmates managed to escape when guards opened the gate to serve coffee for breakfast. Damaged facilities and slow judicial process are the two main reasons why inmates forcibly left the jail.
“Although we are innocent, we have been detained for more than five years. The court lost all their records due to typhoon and storm surge and this will further delay the process,” said Erwin Cornejo, one of the inmates who joined the jailbreak.
Records of various cases, to include those incarcerated at the Leyte Provincial Jail, were either damaged or washed out when the Bulwagan ng Katarungan,which houses seven regional trial court branches, during the supertyphoon Yolanda.
Prisoners also complaint of poor conditions of the facility after the storm wrecked the complex. Some of its roofing was blown away by fierce wind. Humanitarian organizations donated tents for shelter of prisoners.
The 35 inmates at large are on top of the more than 100 prisoners who have yet to be recaptured after they stormed out of the Leyte provincial jail during the onslaught of super typhoon Yolanda nearly three months ago.
Before the storm, the Leyte provincial jail had 588 inmates. Worried of the condition of their families, more than 400 escaped the prison facility after its roofing was blown by the storm. Many of them returned after checking on their relatives.

By: SARWELL Q.MENIANO