NDF-EV slams Aquino's
Yolanda rehab master plan as yet another “pork barrel”
By NDF-Eastern Visayas
November 3, 2014
SAMAR - The P167.9 billion
Yolanda rehab master plan signed by President Benigno Simeon Aquino
III is nothing but “pork barrel” in disguise, the National Democratic
Front-Eastern Visayas (NDF-EV) said today. “The Aquino regime further
inflames the Yolanda survivors by dumping on their heads what is
essentially a “pork barrel” disguised as a rehabilitation master
plan,” said NDF-EV spokesperson Fr. Santiago “Ka Sanny” Salas. “The
so-called Comprehensive Rehabilitation and Recovery Plan (CRRP) will
not benefit the millions of people affected by Supertyphoon Yolanda.
Instead, it is a package of political patronage for Aquino's big
business cronies as well as his political allies who are gearing for
the 2016 elections. It is part of the regime's election war chest.”
The NDF-EV spokesperson said the CRRP by itself is too little, too
late and too corrupt. “The CRRP contradicts an earlier government
estimate by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) of
the total cost of damages by Yolanda pegged at P571.1 billion pesos.
The NEDA also said earlier that P360.9 billion pesos would be needed
for recovery and reconstruction, which is only 63% of the damage
assessment. The CRRP signed by Aquino allocates even less government
aid. Worse, whatever little the Aquino deigns to give will not be
going to the poor, but for the entrenchment of the rich and powerful.”
Fr. Salas said the CRRP is a bonanza for the Aquino regime's big
business cronies as well as politicians in Eastern Visayas and
elsewhere in the “Yolanda corridor” who are close to to the regime.
“The bulk of CRRP will go to resettlement projects worth P75.67
billion. These will benefit businesses in property development and
real estate in two ways. First, they will build the resettlement
projects for communities which are targeted for demolition, including
33 barangays in Tacloban City in Leyte alone. And second, the areas
that have been demolished are being eyed as business enclaves for call
centers, resorts, casinos, and the like. In Tacloban City and other
areas, Manny Pangilinan and Enrique Razon already have vested
interests, along with other wealthy families like Ayala, Sy, Gaisano,
Aboitiz, among others.
“The other allotments in CRRP will benefit the Aquino regime's allies
in the local government. The P35.1 billion for infrastructure, for
example, is prone to corruption. Meanwhile, the P30.6 billion for
livelihood and P26.4 billion for social services may be used for
political patronage through sham social amelioration programs. For
example, the Aquino government's “cash for work” and 4Ps program have
long been used by local politicians to buy votes in their bailiwicks.
Moreover, the Aquino government has not been transparent about the
actual amount of foreign aid received and distributed, opening room
for doubt that much of this went to corruption.”
The NDF-EV spokesperson also noted the CRRP does not offer anything
for peasants who are the majority of those who suffered from Yolanda's
onslaught last November 8, 2013. “According to reports by the Yolanda
survivors themselves, the damage to agriculture and fisheries is
pegged at P144 billion and that is in Eastern Visayas alone – almost
equivalent to the government aid package for all Yolanda-affected
regions. The production of coconut, a major crop, will take up to a
decade to fully restore. Other crops for commercial and consumption
purposes are just barely recovering after being almost totally wiped
out, such as bananas, vegetables and root crops. The majority of
Yolanda survivors are on the brink of starvation, but there is no
government for them.”
Fr. Salas said the Aquino government's Yolanda rehabilitation master
is another disaster that will lead to more suffering as well as fodder
for the demand to oust the current administration. “The Yolanda
survivors are further inflamed that the CRRP may be the last straw.
The Aquino regime is heading for a showdown with the Yolanda survivors
in Eastern Visayas. The people are fed up with the social injustice
and corruption surrounding the Yolanda rehabilitation master plan. The
Aquino regime is ripe for ouster for proving beyond doubt through its
CRRP that it is hastening the rotting of the reactionary ruling system
through its “pork barrel” patronage politics.
“The international community should demand accountability from the
Aquino regime over the billions of aid that has remained unaccounted.
They should support the struggle of the survivors for justice.
“It is a matter of justice that the people press on with their
democratic demands for land, livelihood, financial aid and adequate
shelter. The Yolanda survivors and others who survived other
calamities can unite to strengthen their struggle for reparations the
reactionary government and its US imperialist master owes them. In the
final analysis, there can be genuine reconstruction only through
winning the national democratic revolution. Only by waging and winning
the national democratic revolution can there be a government that does
not rely on the “pork barrel” but serves the interests of the people,
ensures agrarian reform and national industrialization for national
progress, and carry out policies for the protection of the people and
the environment so another Yolanda will never wreak such havoc again.”