Army, TESDA help repair typhoon victims’ homes

MANILA, Philippines - Surigao del Sur may not be the province worst hit by typhoon “Pablo” but residents in the province were also affected, with many of them losing their homes during the height of the devastation.

To help address the problem, the Army and the Technical Education and Skill Development Authority (TESDA) launched a project aimed at repairing the houses of residents in the town of Lingig.

Lt. Col. Eugenio Osias IV, spokesman of the Army’s 4th Division, said 45 families have benefited from the “Operasyon Ayos Atip,” which started last Thursday.

The operation involved TESDA personnel, soldiers from the 36th, 29th, and 75th Infantry Battalions, all of which are under the supervision of the 401st Brigade.

“This initiative was made in order to help the typhoon victims fix their damaged huts and roofs,” Osias said.

“Despite the calamities and disasters that passed the country, Filipinos are able to stand up and move forward because of volunteerism,” he added.

Osias said the spirit of volunteerism drove different groups to donate cash, materials, and manpower to help the victims of disasters.

The local government units provided the materials needed to repair the houses.

Soldiers and civilians under TESDA provincial director Rey Cueva provided the manpower for the project.

“The volunteers wanted to help in the project so that the victims may celebrate this coming New Year in their homes with their families,” Osias said.

Beneficiaries of the project may increase to about 100 within the first quarter of next year, he added.

Maj. Gen. Nestor Añonuevo, commander of the Army’s 4th Division, encouraged the public to help the typhoon victims recover from the tragedy.

“The heart who wants to help needs no material resources to be able to do so, like your soldiers, you can volunteer your skills and time to be able to help out others. The Division’s capacity to help in terms of material resources may be limited but your soldiers’ passion to help and serve the Filipino people is infinite,” he said.

Col. Romeo Gan, commander of the Army’s 401st Brigade, urged the private sector and state agencies to provide assistance to residents in typhoon-hit areas of Surigao del Sur and Agusan del Sur.

The Navy will also help build temporary shelters for Davao Oriental residents displaced by typhoon Pablo.

Navy spokesman Col. Omar Tonsay said they have organized a multi-purpose hall construction project in the province.

The funds for the project will come from donations of Navy personnel and savings from cancelled holiday celebrations. The funds will be used to buy materials needed to build the temporary shelters.

Tonsay said the construction services would come from the Naval Construction Brigade.

On the other hand, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources urged residents in Barangay Andap in New Bataan, Compostela Valley not to return to rebuild their homes and urged them to look for other relocation sites.

The MGB asked the local government to provide a relocation site for the 7,550 residents of barangay Andap who were the most affected among the 16 barangays in New Bataan that was laid to waste by typhoon Pablo.

Rosalie Magputong, a resident of barangay Andap, said they have no choice but to follow the instructions of the authorities.

Relief and donations

Meanwhile, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is ensuring that families displaced by typhoon Pablo will get their fair share of international donations.

DSWD Assistant Secretary for Institutional Development Vilma Cabrera said the agency is determining the allocation by taking into consideration the number of displaced families.

“What we did is allocate it in accordance with the percentage share of the municipality so that we will not be accused of giving priority to any specific municipality,” she said.

 Foreign food donations such as rice and canned goods are repacked into family food packs while non-food items are released to towns, but DSWD is making sure that allocations of limited items are fairly distributed based on percentage share of the town, according to the number of displaced or affected families.

The distribution of donations of very limited number such as generator sets depends on the extent of the need and on specific requirements of the local government.

“We prioritize (distribution of) gen-sets to where the hospitals are to sustain their need,” she said, adding the presence of health units in a municipality also calls for entitlement of donations such as generator sets.

Having worked with previous disaster operations, Cabrera bared efforts of DSWD to push forward priority needs of affected communities and typhoon-displaced individuals by bringing out such concerns during humanitarian agency meetings.

“We brief them of the needs, constraints and gaps,” referring to the United Nations agencies and other international organizations.

DSWD regional director Priscilla Razon said there were recent donations from the Network of Filipino Churches of Singapore that were turned over to the DSWD.

The donations are valued at S$589,144.

Razon added the Indonesian and the Malaysian governments are set to do a second round of relief turnover to DSWD, while the US Agency for International Development (USAID) will also be handing over additional donations.

DSWD is also expecting donations from the central office of DSWD to be shipped by Green Peace in January next year.

On the other hand, DSWD XI data of foreign donations revealed acceptance of donations starting Dec. 7 coming from Malaysia, while donated items from Singapore were received on Dec. 8.

Last Dec. 11, DSWD XI received donations from Dubai, United Arab Emirates and from the USAID; Dec. 13 from Itochu Corp. of Japan and from DOLE Korea; Dec. 14, from Malaysia-Royal Malaysian Air Force and from World Food Program-Subang, Malaysia; and on Dec. 15 from Irish Aid-Plan International.

On Dec. 16, Itochu Corp. of Japan did another round of donation turnover to DSWD XI while DOLE Japan again handed over assorted goods on Dec. 17.

The Malaysian government handed over another set of donations on Dec. 18 while on the same day the World Food Program delivered additional items of priority needs. – Edith Regalado