Government urged to set aside politics in Yolanda rebuilding

MANILA, Philippines - Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez appealed yesterday to the Aquino administration to set aside politics and speed up the rebuilding of areas devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

Romualdez, leader of the independent bloc of the House of Representatives, said he was simply calling for justice and fairness in the release of public funds for the long-term rehabilitation of Yolanda-stricken areas.

“There should be no selective release of funds. Equal allocation to help the Yolanda-hit areas must be exercised regardless of the political color of local leaders,” Romualdez said.

“Government program should cover all the administration and opposition areas that have been devastated by Yolanda. I call for justness and fairness,” he said.

He cited reports that the P167.8- billion funding earmarked for the rehabilitation of calamity-hit areas has not yet been disbursed.

He also cited the remarks of United Nations special rapporteur Chaloka Beyani that the government has not done enough for those left homeless by Yolanda.

Romualdez renewed his call for Aquino to give local government units (LGUs) a more active role in the implementation of the Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan (CRRP).

He said LGUs, which know better what is good for their people than any other government agency, have hardly been consulted in the rebuilding process almost two years after the super typhoon hit the Visayas.

“LGUs are not given enough role in the rebuilding efforts. I hope the government will recognize the devolution policy or LGUs’ empowerment in the decision-making because local officials know better what is good and best for them,” Romualdez said.

He said the administration also failed to provide clear funding sources in the national budget for the CRRP, causing the government’s dismal and snail-paced implementation of the rehabilitation process.

He said the government is just looking for savings to support programs under CRRP, resulting in the downloading of only P47 billion out of the P167.9 billion committed for CRRP as of June 2015.

He said it was only last Oct. 29, 2014 or almost a year after Yolanda, when Aquino finally approved CRRP.

Sen. Joseph Victor Ejercito blamed yesterday the lack of coordination  among local officials in Tacloban City as one of the reasons there was no substantial improvement in the lives of the victims of Yolanda.

Ejercito said he was not surprised with the report of the UN last weekend that showed that the Philippines had not done enough to rebuild the lives of the victims, who remained living in shanties without power or water since the powerful typhoon hit the country.

“The main problem there is because of the squabble between the local and the national government, it has really affected the rehab efforts,” Ejercito said.

“In fact, I appealed to the national government agencies na ‘wag na nilang isipin yung local na kalaban (don’t think of the locals as enemies). It’s the victims who are suffering because of the bickering between the national government and local government unit of Tacloban,” he added.

Ejercito, who chairs the Senate committee on urban planning, housing and resettlement, conducted an on-site hearing on the Yolanda rehabilitation efforts early this year in Tacloban. Another Senate hearing on the rehabilitation plan will be conducted this month.

Ejercito said that the rehabilitation efforts would have been faster if Tacloban Mayor Alfred Romualdez was not tagged as a political enemy by administration officials. – With Christina Mendez