TACLOBAN CITY- Typhoon victims who belong to the Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) did not only receive food packs but were also provided with houses and livelihood.
The influential religious bloc conducted its dental and medical mission in this typhoon-ravaged city on Friday attended by more than 60,000 people held at the Leyte Sports Development Complex.
The activity was attended by top officials of the INC led by its executive minister Eduardo Manalo amid heavy rains. Classes at the Leyte National High School, Leyte Colleges, Leyte Normal University and the Eastern Visayas State University located within the LSDC were suspended to avoid heavy traffic due to the one-day activity.
Aside from the dental and medical mission, the INC provided food packs to their members who were victims of Yolanda.
The INC readied 150,000 food packs although based on their records, 2,630 of their members in Leyte and Samar were directly hit by Yolanda.
Manalo, meantime, lead in the groundbreaking of the 3,000 hectares area owned by the INC at Sitio New Era, Barangay Langit in Alangalang, Leyte of a housing project dubbed as Self-Sustainable Community Rehabilitation Project.
Glicerio Santos, Jr., INC general auditor, said that about 1,000 of their members who completely lost their houses during the massive typhoon are to be given the free houses the construction of which are to be finished in four months time.
The houses, made of concrete materials and G.I. sheets, have 22 square meters of floor areas and 35 square meters per lot.
Joel Cerira of Barangay Minuhang, Barugo, Leyte , said that he is glad that their church has provided them not only a new home but even a livelihood.
“It’s actually a free house and a livelihood kind of thing. It’s easy for me to decide to live here and leave my hometown,” said Cirera, 50 and is a bachelor.
Inside the sprawling complex, which is more than 20 kms away from the town proper of Alangalang, are the proposed garment factory and an eco-farm.
The proposed garment factory and the eco-farm which is to be planted with rice and vegetables would serve as the livelihood component of the project with the INC members living in the resettlement is to be employed.
Santos said that the entire project is estimated to cost more than a billion pesos with P200 million set aside for the construction of houses.
“And the money were from the INC own funds. We did not solicit from anyone, to include politicians,” he said.
Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez lauded the project of the INC saying it would be a big help to the victims of the typhoon.
He described the INC project as a “good example” how should assistance be extended to the victims, an apparent dig to the Aquino administration “slow” assistance to the victims of Yolanda.
“Malaking, malaking bagay itong ibinigay ng Iglesia. It’s a good example and its complete, may mga bahay, may mga pangkabuhayan,” Romualdez who attended the groundbreaking said. (JOEY A. GABIETA)

TACLOBAN CITY- Former senator Letecia Ramos-Shahani appealed to women to come to terms on the tragedy that they experienced during the supertyphoon Yolanda.
This way, it would be easy for them to cope up on the trauma that they experienced, said Shahani during her talks before women held at the University of the Philippines-Tacloban Campus on March 14, this year.
The former senator was invited to speak before the gathering composed of women coming from different groups in the light of the month-long Women Month celebration.
“Women cannot build communities which have been destroyed by (a) disaster unless women build their insides; women should come into terms with their own disasters before trying to help the exterior disaster of Yolanda,” Shahani said.
“You cannot give, what you do not have,” she added.
Shahani said she was glad that she was invited to speak before women of this typhoon-ravaged city as she wanted to visit Tacloban after it was pummeled by supertyphoon Yolanda.
Shahani was described as a “seasoned gem stone” by Commissioner Joycie Alegre of the National Commission for Cultures and the Arts (NCCA) during the activity.
“(Shahani) was invited to the forum because she has achieved a very significant career as a leader not only as a Filipina representing the Philippines but as a woman,”Alegre said.
For his part, Msgr. Ramon Aguilos, chair of the Leyte Samar Heritage Society, Inc, assured the women that the archdiocese of Palo will always be supporting all advocacies on women and their rights in the society. (LIZBETH ANN ABELLA)

TACLOBAN CITY – Another successful implementation of the Kapit Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan- Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services (Kalahi-CIDSS) was witnessed with the inauguration of a two-room school building sub-project in Brgy. Sta. Rosa, Matag-ob, Leyte.
Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla reiterated the provincial government’s support to the Kalahi-CIDSS program implementation in the province as he believes with the program’s tried and tested community-drive development strategy to combat poverty, as well as the counterparting scheme it employs that helped a lot in empowering people in the villages.
The governor said that with the devastation wrought by Typhoon Yolanda in most schools in the province, a new school building that would benefit schoolchildren is a welcome thing.
“Here truly lies the heart of community empowerment as communities have become part of the project every step of the way. I saw how difficult it was for the communities to be excluded in deciding what projects will be implemented in their areas. The Kalahi-CIDSS program significantly addressed the widening gap of the rich and poor sectors of the community. Let us empower our communities and create developmental undertakings suitable to the needs of the citizens,” he said.
The Kalahi-CIDSS is one of the main poverty alleviation programs of the Department of Social Welfare and Development that utilize Community-Driven Development (CDD) strategy.
The CDD strategy involves the building up and strengthening of the partnership among the DSWD, the local government units (LGUs), and the common citizens to ensure its successful implementation. (AHLETTE C. REYES)

TACLOBAN CITY- The answer is simply: No!
Thus said the People’s Surge, an alliance of typhoon survivors on President Aquino’s own version of “I am sorry,” speech.
“No, we do not accept his apologies. For what? So he will be absolved by his sins?” Efleda Bautista, a convenor of the group told Leyte Samar Daily Express in an interview.
Benedictine Sister Edita Eslopor, spokesperson of the victims, hit Aquino “for insulting the public with an ‘apology’ after four months of the government’s failure in relief and rehabilitation.”
“President Aquino’s ‘apology’ seems to try to get away with his arrogant refusal to take responsibility for four months of hell for the Yolanda survivors,” said Sr. Eslopor said.
“The ‘apology’ is not even directed to us Yolanda survivors, who went to Malacanang in February and got snubbed by the President 100 days after Yolanda struck the region. Yolanda victims have been starving and dying as a result of this government’s ineptness and gross negligence and all he could say was ‘sorry’?” she added.
“The President did not even bother to give us water to drink. Worst, Aquino sent military to meet us. He has no heart for a woman like me, and for the victims,” Eslopor said.
Eslopor maintained that people’s immediate and long-term basic needs must the first priority in any reconstruction.
The group of Espolor had demanded but turned down by the government of P40,000 financial assistance to each family victims; cancelled the no build zone policy and continue to provide food assistance to the victims. (RONALD O.REYES)

TACLOBAN CITY – The city government here is developing more than 100 hectares permanent relocation site in northern villages to relocate families living in no-build zones, whose houses were completely destroyed by supertyphoon Yolanda.
Mayor Alfred Romualdez said at least 10,000 houses have been pledged by different organizations, about half of the 20,000 target families to be permanently relocated to safer grounds.
“We’re all working together to build better permanent homes. We cannot do this quickly given the extent of devastation, but we are still working in consonance to what we want to happen. We will not allow anyone to risk the lives of their families by building houses in danger zones,” Romualdez told reporters.
The city mayor said that at least 110 hectares have been acquired by the city government in Barangays New Kawayan and Sto. Niño. The city intends to buy 20 more hectares.
Although there were groundbreaking ceremonies held by some donors of housing units, the site is still need to be developed as they have flattened mountainous areas, the mayor said.
“Some of the lots have already been paid for by the city government. Since we are not financially capable now, help from the national government to acquire more lots is welcome,” Romualdez said.
The existing policy on housing projects is that the national government shoulders budget for site development, the local government is tasked to acquire the land, and donors build houses.
Romualdez also asked the Department of Public Works and Highways to deploy heavy equipment to facilitate land preparation activities.
Each housing unit has a lot of 36 square meters and floor area of 22 square meters.
Federico Anido, head of the city disaster risk reduction and management council, said portion of the permanent relocation site will be devoted for commercial development, public places, and roads.
“The new relocation site is very safe from rising sea waters and landslides. We just need to bring investments there for livelihood of housing beneficiaries,” he added.
Ground breaking ceremonies were earlier held by the Habitat for Humanity for 852 homes and the GMA Kapuso Foundation for 400 units.
Earlier, pledges were made by the Red Cross (5,080 houses), Integrative Center for Alternative Development (20 units), Zonta International (20 houses), and Lions Club (10 homes). (SARWELL Q. MENIANO)