Phl to express gratitude on Yolanda anniversary

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines will not commemorate the first anniversary of the devastation of Super Typhoon Yolanda in Central Visayas on Nov. 8.

Speaking at the 69th founding anniversary of the United Nations, Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario said a grateful nation will instead express deep appreciation to the UN and the international community for their overwhelming solidarity in helping the Philippines in the aftermath of the most destructive typhoon in recent history.

“From immediate humanitarian response and recovery, to the painstaking process of rehabilitation and reconstruction, your efforts have greatly contributed to helping the Philippines get back on its feet,” he said.

“What we will commemorate next weekend will not be the destructive power of Haiyan (Yolanda), but the power of our collective will and indomitable spirit as a community of nations.“

Del Rosario said the 21st Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC) to be held in Paris in 2015 should cement international support for low carbon economic growth trajectories, as well as access to climate financing and technology transfer.

“As a country that has experienced the destruction of extreme weather conditions, bringing these objectives to reality is a priority for the Philippines,” he said.

The year 2015 is a crucial period for the Philippines and the global village, he added.

Del Rosario said the greatest challenge to the Philippines in meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MGDs) is the series of disasters that had struck the country.

Yolanda made a significant impact on the modest progress that the Philippines had achieved towards the goals, he added.

Del Rosario said the Philippines looks forward with cautious optimism to measuring progress in achieving its national targets under the MDG and moving towards the implementation of the post-2015 development agenda.

“Our focus is on human rights, social cohesion and justice, accountable governance and inclusive development,” he said.

Projects for Tacloban

Around P1.2 billion worth of goods, services and projects have been given so far to Tacloban City.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman said the P1.2 billion in relief assistance were provided between Nov. 9, 2013 and Oct. 17, 2014.

These include food and non-food items, emergency shelter and livelihood assistance, supplemental feeding and the construction of an evacuation center/regional facility.

Records show the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has spent more than P575 million in food assistance for 58,823 families.

It is comprised of food packs with 3-kg and 6-kg rice packs, 15-kg and 25-kg rice packs, bottled water, canned goods, high energy biscuits, noodles and coffee.

Non-food items were also distributed, like tents, tarps, mosquito nets, blankets, hygiene kits, mats, used clothing, plastic glass/cups, collapsible containers, plastic pails, slippers, frying pans, cooking pots, canvass, towels, flashlights and water jugs.

Around P35.8 million was also released for the implementation of the Cash for Building Livelihood Assets for 9,395 families.

Some P3 million will also be released to fund the livelihood projects of 17 Self-Employment Association-Kaunlaran (SEA-K) groups.

Another P103,212 has been allocated for the long-term livelihood of other survivors.

Around P23.86 million is also intended for the livelihood skills training of survivors, to include 600 beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program.

Another P188 million was used for the regular supplementary feeding and feeding program in bunkhouses for 112,227 children.

The DSWD has allocated P10 million for the construction of an evacuation center cum regional facility for future disasters.

It was just waiting for the Memorandum of Agreement and documents for the change of location site.

The DSWD has also allocated funds for the construction of 113 bunkhouses amounting to P68.9 million.

It is presently giving relief assistance to 48 families staying at the San Fernando Elementary School, the lone evacuation center still operating in Tacloban City.

The DSWD has also been paying for the electric consumption of families staying in three bunkhouses.

Remembering the dead on Nov. 2, 8

Yolanda survivors will remember their dead tomorrow, Nov. 2, All Souls’ Day, and on Nov. 8, the first anniversary of Yolanda.

Laura Sedurante-Agosto, 51, lost her husband Reynante, 56, and grandchild Lauraine, 10 months old.

She will go to the cemetery on Nov. 2 to light candles for her dead relatives, including the two.

She will also have a special commemoration for Reynante and Laurain on Nov. 8.

“That is the day when they died so that is their death anniversaries,” she said in Bisaya.

Agosto said remembering the dead on their anniversaries is a long entrenched tradition in their family, especially that it is their first death anniversary.

She will go to the Holy Cross Cemetery where most of the Yolanda victims were buried.

Agosto does not know the exact place where her husband and grandchild are buried. She accepts the fact that they are among the nameless dead who are now in the Holy Cross Cemetery.

Results of the DNA matching done by the National Bureau of Investigation has not yet come.

Agosto’s Catholic upbringing convinced her that God has pulled her through difficult circumstances, the latest blow was losing her husband and grandchild.

They lived in San Jose district, the hardest hit coastal community in Tacloban City where almost 4,000 died.

Gerry Paa, 63, lost his brother Ralph, 55.

Another close relative, Tatay Pater Tejada, died with his entire family. He said they will light candles for the dead on Nov. 2, but their family will join a candlelight memorial to be held on Nov. 8.

While most of the dead in Tacloban are buried in Holy Cross cemetery, some of the dead are entombed in Barangay San Jose.

Eleven are members of the Diaz family.

Lucita Diaz, a barangay councilor, said her mother died together with her siblings and their children.

They are buried in a grave by the sea and a broken tile serves as the marker.

The grave of eight-year-old Arlene Faith Lucenda at Sitio Balanak is better off. Newly painted in candy pink and white, her favorite toys hang on the rafters.

Her uncle, Manoy, said they decided to bury Arlene’s body on the seventh day after Yolanda because it was already decomposing.

They sought the services of the nearest funeral parlor, got a coffin on loan and buried her.

Manoy said he will commemorate Arlene’s death on Nov. 8 and their other dead relatives on Nov. 2.

Yolanda heroes honored

Eight “Yolanda Heroes” will be honored on Nov. 5 with the “Acts of Valor” and “Acts of a Good Samaritan” awards.

Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) information officer Myles Joseph Colasito said the awards aim to recognize people who risked their lives in the service of others and the community at the height of Super Typhoon Yolanda.

The ceremonies will be held at the Ritz de Tower Leyte.

The eight finalists are Benjoe Mercenes, 28, single and a resident of Barangay 83-C, Taguictik, San Jose, Tacloban City; Christopher Caspe, a resident of Barangay 56 Magallanes, Tacloban City; Isagani Sabalza of Barangay Magay, Tanauan, Leyte; Dionesio Bagon of Sitio Caloogan, San Jose, Palo, Leyte; Armando Corillo of V&G Subdivision, Tacloban City; Chief Inspector Adel Bautista of Barangay Guindapunan, Palo, Leyte; Nilda Quiero, a Red Cross worker and resident of Salazar St., Tacloban, City; and Ranil Repasa of Barangay Canramos, Tanauan, Leyte.

Witnesses to their good deeds nominated them for the awards.

Mercenes helped many women and children in their neighborhood to cross a makeshift bridge that he put up between roofs.

He pulled them one by one over a concrete wall to the safety of the Barredo home in San Jose district, one of the houses that remained standing in the coastal community. – With Rainier Allan Ronda, Lalaine Jimenea