Aquino is victimizing 'Yolanda' survivors all over again - People Surge

By People Surge
February 1, 2014

TACLOBAN CITY – "With no sense of urgency to respond to 'Yolanda' survivors' demands, this government is victimizing us ['Yolanda' victims] all over again," said Dr. Efleda Bautista, a storm survivor herself and current Executive Vice Chairperson of People Surge.

Exactly last week, not less than 12,000 strong 'Yolanda' survivors thronged to the regional capital of Tacloban in a protest march led by People Surge, an alliance of 'Yolanda' victims and their supporters. This is, so far, the biggest protest action witnessed in Eastern Visayas for more than a decade; also one of the biggest protest actions in the country directed against the Aquino administration.

'Yolanda' survivors under the banner of People Surge laid out specific demands such as provision and sustenance of food aid, until necessary, to aid full recovery while source of livelihood does not stabilize. They presented an 18-point demand that includes immediate provision of P40,000 cash relief for every family devastated by 'Yolanda' and the scrap of the 'no-build zone' policy which is reportedly being implemented not actually for safety of residents but to facilitate entry of big businesses. Other components fall under strategic proposals for full rehabilitation and reconstruction of devastated communities.

In the same event, survivors and supporters articulated their call for justice to all victims of Aquino's criminal negligence as well as for their right to housing and livelihood amid the context of a "profit-driven" rehabilitation framework labeled as 'Build Back Better' or the Reconstruction Assistance on Yolanda (RAY).

Sister Edita Eslopor, a Benedictine nun and Chairperson of People Surge, insisted that the Aquino government must have consulted the victims at the onset of any rehab effort. She said that "at the rate by which government implements policies like the 'no-build zone', not going through any real consultation among major stakeholders who are the victims, Aquino's rehab plan is going somewhere else, certainly not towards genuine recovery of typhoon victims."

The alliance said in their unity statement that the victims should be at the core of all rehab programs, not big business or real estate developers. But Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda spoke on Wednesday and belittled the series of protests as mere "concerted effort of a few to convince the public that most of our countrymen are dissatisfied." He believes in the 'very good' rating of the President. He is convinced that 'Yolanda' survivors are happy towards the President's rehab efforts.

However, Bautista of People Surge lambasted Lacierda's statement saying, "The Aquino administration is pathetic for being a die-hard defender of a bogus survey even after survivors from Eastern Visayas - the worst hit region by the typhoon - have spoken of their real condition."

In the same light, just a day after the massive mobilization last week, so-called rehab czar Panfilo Lacson announced an end to the ongoing construction of bunkhouses for use as temporary shelters of displaced families. The construction of bunkhouses is tainted with issues of corruption and overpricing. Lacson denied it but admitted that the bunkhouses are indeed substandard.

Earlier, the Tacloban-based Alliance of Typhoon Yolanda victims (ABBAT) set a deadline on the Aquino government to grant their petition for P40,000 cash relief and scrap of 'no-build zone' policy on or before February 14. Conversely, ABBAT community leader Patrick Escalona rejected Lacson's option to provide construction materials instead in lieu of the 40,000 cash relief originally meant for daily subsistence of every family. He said the amount is too small to replace the rehabilitation program of the government.

When asked to comment about Aquino's seeming 'lack sensitivity' to 'Yolanda' survivors' concerns, Bautista pointed out Aquino's stand on corruption: "if big bureaucrats ask, Aquino is quick to give hefty amount of cash or bonuses. The travesty is, when victims protested last week to demand immediate government aid, suddenly they claim there is no fund. Who are they fooling? Who forgets the 1.1 trillion-peso pork barrel of the President? Where is the foreign aid going? This government is heartless. Its greed and corruption kill people."