Gov’t remains sluggish on Yolanda rehab, lawmakers say

MANILA, Philippines - Almost seven months after Super Typhoon Yolanda struck the country, the government has nothing to show by way of rehabilitating the devastated provinces except “incompetence and insensitivity,” lawmakers said yesterday.

House Deputy Majority Leader and Citizens Battle Against Corruption Rep. Sherwin Tugna and fellow party-list Reps. Luzviminda Ilagan of Gabriela and Antonio Tinio of ACT Teachers lamented that up to now, hundreds of thousands of families continue to live in tents and other makeshift shelters, with the typhoon season just months away.

They also expressed sadness over the recent death of a woman and her six children after a fire consumed their tent.

“Incompetence and insensitivity are trademarks of this administration. All this time we have been saying that the flimsy and graft-ridden bunkhouses are not the answer. Then the bunkhouses were incomplete. Now that Pope Francis is coming to visit, they’re working double-time?” Ilagan said.

Tinio said “a family that survived the worst disaster in recent memory has perished as a result of government incompetence and neglect.”

Tugna and Kabataan party-list Rep. Terry Ridon renewed their call for Malacañang to expedite the rehabilitation of the devastated areas.

“We cannot be content with the assurances of government agencies that money had been released for the purpose. The people need to see for themselves that help is present and their homes are theirs for the keeping,” Ridon said.

Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez has warned of “more casualties” if the government continues to be sluggish in rehabilitating Yolanda-hit areas.

Romualdez, leader of the independent bloc in the House of Representatives, said that while Yolanda struck the country in November, people continue to sustain physical and psychological injuries and die due to illnesses because of the apparent failure of the government to implement a swift rehabilitation plan.

He said the latest deaths could have been avoided had the victims been given permanent shelter.

“I call on the Aquino government to at least give equal priority to the rehabilitation of Yolanda victims, especially in Leyte,” Romualdez said. “The construction of new shelters are at a snail’s pace and we hardly hear anything about it.”

“But if it’s about the Napoles lists and the pork barrel scam suspects, especially if the suspects are from the opposition, we read or hear about it in media every single day,” he said.

The lawmaker said the independent bloc is all-out against corruption like the rest of the people.

“But the victims of Yolanda, their lives and their future are just as important as the Napoles case,” he said. – With Evelyn Macairan