BALANGKAYAN, Eastern Samar- His people needs livelihood opportunities aside from the food packs that they still regularly receives from the government and other humanitarian organizations.
Thus said Mayor Allan Contado who said that Yolanda has practically destroyed the sources of income of his people, which are farming and fishing.
The typhoon has also resulted for the destruction of more than 400 houses, displacing over 9,000 residents.
As an initial step, the municipal government initiated livelihood trainings and seminars to the affected people, Contado said.
“We have prepared various trainings and seminars which will give the people ideas on how they will start a business. Once the people will have their own business, the condition in the municipality will be normalized again,” Contado added.
Also, the municipal government of Balangkayan is waiting for a livelihood projects and programs earlier promised by the national government, he said.
“The national government promised us that they will return in our municipality with projects and programs which will give livelihood opportunities for our people,” Contado said.
Meantime, the town mayor said that the municipal government would procure vegetable and rice seeds intended for farmers once their budget for this year would be approved by the members of the town council.

By: RYAN GABRIEL L. ARCENAS

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) stands to earn more than Php569 million following the unprecedented sale of three of its prime Metro Manila properties last December.
The Philcomcen building in Ortigas with a book value of only Php234 million was sold to the Filinvest Land Inc. with a bid of Php771.5 million. Cul Transit in Quezon City, with a book value of only Php50 million, was sold to Global 360 Development Corporation who bidded Php78 million for the 2,076 square meter property. And, Polymedic Apartment 2 in Mandaluyong with a book value of Php7.8 million was sold to BMI Realty at Php12.1 million.
“The results are overwhelming. We were able to sell them at rates way beyond our asking price through a transparent bidding process,” GSIS President and General Manager Robert G. Vergara said.
Along with Philcomcen, Cul Transit and Polymedic 2, other GSIS acquired assets that were put on the sale block in November 2013, included Polymedic 1 as well as LA’O and the former Jai Alai in Manila.
Nine bidders, including real estate developers submitted offers for the six properties.
Vergara said it was the perfect time to dispose the assets given the real estate property boom in the country.
“Our efforts to level the playing field for buyers of our properties have paid off,” President and General Manager Robert Vergara said as he assessed the recently concluded public auction.
“This milestone bodes well for auctions that we will be holding in the future,” Vergara said, adding “this will positively impact on the financial standing of the institution.”
Based on unaudited figures, the total assets of GSIS for the first 11 months of the year, stood at Php784.1 billion, up by 8% from the Php726 billion posted in 2012.
Overpriced, substandard bunkhouses bode bigger disaster for Yolanda survivors, solon says
“This is victimization twice, thrice and several times over. The
building of substandard and overpriced bunkhouses for the survivors of typhoon Yolanda is not only scandalous, it is cruel and inexcusable.”
Thus said Gabriela Women’s Party Representative Luzviminda Ilagan as temporary shelters for typhoon survivors in Eastern Visayas were found to be subpar on top of allegations overpricing. “It showcases this goverment’s undignified and unjust treatment of typhoon survivors. Ano ba’ng palagay nila sa mga nasalanta ng bagyo? Mga daga?”
“From its failure to rescue survivors and retrieve casualties to the delivery and distribution of relief and aid, and now with anomalies surfacing in the construction of temporary shelters– all these showcase the government’s inutility and inefficiency in the relief and rehabilitation efforts for typhoon survivors,” said Ilagan.
Ilagan also fears that the temporary shelters expected to house survivors for a minimum of one to two years will not be able to withstand another typhoon and poses bigger problems for typhoon
survivors.
“The structures are weak and even dangerous and unfit for human shelter. The cramped spaces are prefect breeding grounds for diseases,especially among children already vulnerable due to malnutrition and months of staying in evacuation centers. The bunkhouses, where female family members are expected to sleep with male relatives also make women vulnerable to abuse and sexual violence.”
The solon also said the women’s party-list group is preparing a resolution in the House of Representatives to look into theallegations of overpricing and the government’s rehabilitation program for areas hardest hit by Typhoon Yolanda.
Ilagan also expressed fears that the rehabilitation of areas hardest hit by the typhoon will benefit big businesses and investors more than typhoon survivors.
“Plans of easing out fisherfolk communities away from their livelihood to make way for investors are slowly being revealed as coastal areas are now being dubbed as no-build zones. Are there even livelihood alternatives for these families? Yolanda survivors must be treated as primary stakeholders and any rehabilitation program for Typhoon survivors must be consultative and inclusive. Rehabilitation efforts must be well-rounded and comprehensive.”

TACLOBAN CITY- An estimated 40,000 people coming from the cities of Palo and Tanauan and this city joined in the thanksgiving and prayer vigil organized by the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation on January 19 this year.
The huge crowd, gathered at the Leyte Sports Development Center, benefited the benevolence of the said Taiwan-based foundation which was the first group to implement the cash-for-work program among typhoon victims.
They later gave financial assistance to families hard hit by the storm ranging from P8,000 up to P15,000.
Alfred Li, the 60-year old chief executive officer of the Tzu Chi Foundation Philippines, expressed his delight in a phone interview with Leyte Samar Daily Express that the people, largely of Tacloban gathered with their volunteers on that rainy day, even though they were informed that no money or items will be distributed to them.
For him, it showed the people’s strong sense of gratitude, a gesture that made them “very lovable”. The people were one with the Buddhists as well as officials like Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez and councillors.
City Vice Mayor Jerry “Sambo” Yaokasin, in a text message, exclaimed “Miracles do happen.”
“Despite the bad weather and being informed that no cash or any material will be given, they filled the whole grandstand.” He viewed such event as manifestation of “only one thing in their heart (that is) to express their gratitude that in their time of need, Tzu Chi was there.”
The Tzu chi Foundation, which is in existence in the Philippines for twenty years now, has been rendering humanitarian services to people affected by natural calamities across the archipelago regardless of their political persuasion or religious affiliation.
It is also extending help in Bohol that was struck by a strong quake in October last year. However, due to the enormous destruction that the supertyphoon Yolanda has done in Tacloban and some towns in Leyte, Tzu Chi Foundation stayed much longer in these areas to provide aid to those hit by the storm.
At least 66,000 families in Tacloban City, Palo and Tanauan combined were given cash assistance and relief items by the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, this is on top of the 190 Taiwan-made pre-fabricated classrooms that its volunteers have built in places severely affected by supertyphoon Yolanda November 8 last year.
This week, the organization constructed two tents for the Sto. Niño Church in Tacloban which will be used by the churchgoers during masses once the reconstruction or major repair of the church edifice is done, tentatively commencing middle of February this year.
The Taiwan-based Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, built in 1966 by a Buddhist nun now called Master Cheng Yen while she was yet 29 years old, is guided by the virtues of “compassion, simplicity, humility and gratefulness.” It carries out its charitable mission with the point of view of being “grateful for the opportunity to help”.
And like other organizations of similar pursuits, it operates on true sense of volunteerism, where fund used to help the people in need is also being solicited from bighearted donors.
As of now, Tzu Chi has about a million members in 22 countries, a hundred thousand of which are in the Philippines receiving instructions for the various outreach programs from its three branches in the country that is Manila, Cebu and Zamboanga. It was established in the Philippines in 1994 and has gone to around seventy countries to do humanitarian missions.
Tzu Chi Foundation is entertaining the possibility of opening a branch in Tacloban City depending, however, on whether there will be individuals who are willing to do volunteer work for Tzu Chi, spend their own money in going to places of assignment without neglecting their responsibilities to their family, without necessarily converting to Buddhism.

By: EILEEN N.BALLESTEROS

By National Agencies

Following the worst typhoon that ever landed in Eastern Visayas,  the poor Warays scampered for food to sustain for food.  While the DSWD and ably partnered by foreign and local NGOs and members of the international community,  we, victims of the calamitous event were expecting other national agencies to role their sleeves and extend helping hands ASAP!  Thus-
The Department of Agriculture together with its bureaus, e.g. Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI),  Bureau of Animal Industry (BAI) and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR),  among others could have done their jobs to insure that food would be available in couple of weeks or months.  Thus:
1.  The DA – BPI.  It’s now almost 2 months since Yolanda’s land fall. If only,  this agency jiffily distributed (with fertilizers) vegetable seeds or preferably cuttings of Malunggay,  Sweet Potato,  Gabi and other members of the edible gabi family, and Pitsay, by this time the first 3 plant cuttings shall have already sprouted and ready for harvest and prepared as vegetables for the typhoon survivors;  while,  Pitsay seeds would have   would have grown into harvestable stage!
It might be worth mentioning that some far-flung barangays of Burauen, did not have to wait for the relief goods (knowing that the dole outs will never reach them, anyway!), on their own  started planting vegetable (cuttings) crops in their yards days after November 8th.  Now they are enjoying the fruits of their labor, their initiative.  My kudos for them! The same marginalized sector of the Burauen population have no idea of how foreign-made,  donated canned sardines, carne norte,  look like much more taste.  With the indulgence of the readers,  let me give credit where credit is due: then US-based younger brother,  Dr. REYNALDO ALTERA CORDERO, a Doctor of Dental Medicine,  now staying in Burauen, Leyte,  did not lose his touch of manually tilling the soil our late father taught us.  He initiated and encouraged our household assistants to convert our backyard into a vegetable garden.  Now, he is reaping the fruits of his effort.  He thought that his project would have a domino-effect and see our neighbors raise vegetables in their own backyards to solve food security after the unforgettable calamitous experience. (To be continued . . .).