TACLOBAN CITY—An alliance of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and communities affected by Supertyphoon Yolanda welcomed the creation of Inter-Agency Task Force Yolanda (IATF-Yolanda) hoping it will eventually lead to the creation of an agency that will oversee future disaster responses.
The Community of Yolanda Survivors and Partners (CYSP), an alliance of 10 NGOs and 163 community partners at the forefront of Yolanda response with Development and Peace/Caritas-Canada, said the creation of IATF-Yolanda is a realization of the clamor they have been asking government.
President Duterte signed Administrative Order (AO) 5 on August 8 establishing the coordinating body that will oversee the “efficient and effective coordination between various government agencies and instrumentalities involved in Yolanda recovery and rehabilitation programs
and projects”.
“We welcome the issuance of Administrative Order 5, creating the IATF-Yolanda. We are hoping that after the realization of IATF-Yolanda’s objectives, this IATF will eventually be a permanent department/unit that will oversee and ensure the timely, efficient and effective response to disaster stricken areas, as we have proposed since last year,” said Joli Torella, coordinator of the CYSP Shelter Working group.
“One thing we are thankful for is the provision in the AO that ensures consultation with us Yolanda survivors. The lack of consultation is the root of the many problems, especially in the provision of shelter,” said Lita T. Bagunas, Yolanda survivor from Eastern Samar. “We are, however, looking for DAR’s [Department of Agrarian Reform] inclusion in the IATF-Yolanda. For farmers like us, the DAR is the lead agency in titling. We are hoping that the DAR would be included.”
One problem hindering the early construction of permanent houses was the absence of land titles due to failure to release certificate of land ownership award (CLOA) to agrarian-reform
beneficiaries.
CYSP also acknowledged the timely response of the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) to the reports of substandard houses constructed by the National Housing Authority (NHA). On July 19 the Neda conducted a validation activity on the said reports, visiting the NHA relocation site in Barangay Cansumangkay, Balangiga.
“We have yet to secure a copy of the report, but we are confident that the Neda was able to establish the truth behind the dancing houses of the NHA in Balangiga. Maybe this validation activity helped in pushing for the issuance of AO 5. Currently, we would like to manifest our request for a similar validation or audit of all existing and those with ongoing construction of relocation sites across the Yolanda corridor,” said Rina Reyes, co-coordinator of CYSP Shelter Working Group.
Edwin Torres, Mabatap HOA president of Tacloban City, also lauds the stringent penalties to the officers of agencies concerned who will be found uncooperative.
“The beauty of the AO is it has some teeth to it because of the penalties that may be meted out to officers of the agencies who will not comply with the provisions of the AO. We will be guarding the implementation of the AO,” he said.