EDITORIAL - Slow recovery efforts

Six years since it caused thousands of deaths and left an unimaginable trail of destruction, supertyphoon Yolanda’s onslaught remains fresh in the minds of Filipinos, especially those it had victimized.

For who cannot forget the gargantuan devastation and the precious lives that were snuffed out during the annihilation brought on by the most powerful storm ever to hit land in the history of mankind?

Yes, the mark left by Yolanda has been unforgettable. But what is more painful nowadays is the fact that many of the victims have yet to fully recover from the country’s biggest calamity.

Well, such can largely be attributed to the government’s slow rehabilitation efforts. For the past six years, there has never been significant improvement in the lives of the millions affected by the supertyphoon.

In fact, a CNN report on the day of Yolanda’s anniversary on November 8 said many victims in badly-hit Tacloban City have yet to benefit from the housing program of the national government.

Those survivors in Samar, Leyte, and Western Visayas are not alone in their misery. Thousands of Yolanda victims in northern Cebu remain unhappy with the slow recovery program of the government.

Certainly, the lack of government assistance has been the primary reason why many Yolanda survivors have failed to move on. Despite their efforts in trying to escape from the nightmare, the absence of government support only makes the scar deeper.

We are now halfway through the Duterte administration, yet the typhoon victims continue to feel that they are being neglected, the fact that their lives have never improved since the previous administration.

We do hope that the Duterte administration will provide a significant portion of its remaining years prioritizing the rehabilitation of areas hit by Yolanda. Survivors can never move on unless the government acts swiftly to elevate them from their current situation.