Noy cites private sector for helping Yolanda survivors

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino has expressed appreciation for the help extended by the private sector for Super Typhoon Yolanda survivors, saying it is crucial in the efforts of the national government to speed up rehabilitation and recovery of typhoon-devastated areas in the Visayas.

Aquino recalled how people from all sectors tried to bring out the best in Filipinos by showing the bayanihan spirit amid the tragedy.

“Is this not another thing to be thankful for? Filipinos never stand idly by and let others suffer alone because compassion and utmost generosity are intrinsic to our people,” the President said during the awarding ceremony for The Outstanding Young Men for 2013.

“We saw this in our fellow citizens who flocked to repacking centers day and night, and in students and employees who donated their allowances and salaries to relief efforts,” he added.

The President cited the private sector and civic groups who organized their own relief drives.

“We see this even today, in men and women like you who care about fostering change that uplifts their fellowmen,” he said.

Rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson told his colleagues in the Cabinet during a meeting two weeks ago that there is a high degree of interest from the private sector in the redevelopment of the typhoon-affected areas.

Lacson, whose office is under the Office of the President, has one undersecretary in the name of Danilo Antonio, who is from Eton Construction Co.

On path to recovery

More than a month since Yolanda struck, the government is now on its “Pathway to Recovery” mode in the severely affected areas in Eastern Visayas.

Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr. of the Presidential Communication Operations Office said this was the essence of the previous Cabinet meeting presided over by Aquino.

During the meeting, the National Economic and Development Authority laid out the timeline for the pathways to recovery.

ILO ensures workers’ safety

The International Labor Organization (ILO) continues to work with partners, including those in the private sector, to ensure the safety of workers under the Emergency Employment Program in disaster-stricken communities.

The ILO earlier reported that Yolanda affected at least 5.9 million workers. Of the number, 2.6 million were in vulnerable employment or living near the poverty line even before the disaster struck.

The government, with the support of the ILO, has rolled out emergency employment in areas most affected by the super typhoon.

Workers under the emergency employment program are equipped with personal protective equipment such as masks, hats, gloves, boots and long sleeved shirts. These workers are employed for at least 15 days and are assured of minimum wages and social security benefits as required by law.

The Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation has worked alongside the ILO and has so far donated P1.5 million for the protective equipment of the workers.

The amount was used to purchase at least 3,000 sets of protective gear for workers in Negros Occidental, Northern Cebu, Palawan, Tacloban and Bohol.

“It is Consuelo Foundation’s privilege to partner with ILO in providing much-needed emergency employment for thousands of families in Yolanda-affected areas,” said Carmela Andal-Castro, managing director of the Consuelo Zobel Alger Foundation.

Caritas asked to continue help

The nine dioceses affected by Yolanda have requested Caritas Manila to continue giving relief until February next year.   

Caritas Manila, the social arm of the Archdiocese of Manila, attended a recent meeting in Cebu, participated in by Caritas Internationalis, the National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace (NASSA), Caritas network and the nine affected dioceses.

Reports said it would take five to seven years for the typhoon-ravaged devastated areas to recover.

Based on the latest Yolanda Relief and Rehabilitation update released by Caritas Damayan, among those that need to be rehabilitated were the livestock, agriculture, fishing and tourism industries in the affected areas.

Earlier Caritas Manila executive director Fr. Anton Pascual continued to ask for help for the 1.7 million families displaced by Yolanda.

“We still need basic provisions to help people in Masbate, Palawan, Samar, Leyte, Iloilo, Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Cebu,” Fr. Pascual said.

As of Dec. 22, total cash donations gathered for the Yolanda victims was at P73.3 million. Help in kind was valued at P20.8 million. The disbursed emergency relief assistance was at P57.1 million.

Anybody interested to learn more about Caritas Manila’s efforts in Yolanda-hit areas could visit www.caritas.org.ph.

Yolanda leaves many orphans

Fr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on Family and Life (CBCP-ECFL), said many children lost their parents during Yolanda.

This prompted Castro to call on families, especially couples who have no children, to adopt orphans from typhoon-affected areas.

“At least during this Christmas season, let us open our homes and make them feel they are part of the family,” Castro said.

Fatality count stopped

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) has again stopped counting Yolanda fatalities since the other day.

NDRRMC executive director Eduardo del Rosario has been criticized for the on and off death count despite reports of continuous recovery of bodies in Tacloban City.

For the entire week except yesterday, NDRRMC reported 6,109 deaths, 28,626 injured, and 1,799 missing.

Apparently on holiday mode, the NDRRMC stopped reporting updates in the government’s ongoing disaster and humanitarian operations in the storm-ravaged areas in the Visayas.

As reflected in last Tuesday’s  situational report No. 72, the NDRRMC said Yolanda displaced 3,424,593 families or more than 16 million individuals from nine regions of the country.

Close to a million families or 4,095,280 persons are in 381 evacuation centers. Damage to infrastructure and agriculture has been placed at P36.6 billion.

Bigger roles sought for DOH, Red Cross

Meanwhile, an administration lawmaker has called for bigger roles for the Department of Health (DOH) and the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) in the NDRRMC.

Saying natural and man-made calamities spawn health crises, Aklan Rep. Teodorico Haresco filed House Bill 2414 seeking to designate representatives of the DOH and the PRC to the NDRMMC.

Haresco wants the DOH and PRC representatives to be designated as vice-chairmen of the disaster risk management for health and of emergency aid management, respectively. – With Evelyn Macairan, Pia Lee-Brago, Jaime Laude, Paolo Romero