Livelihood, water supply top concerns of 'Yolanda' housing dwellers

TACLOBAN CITY, Nov. 7 (PNA) -- Three years after supertyphoon Yolanda struck, water supply and livelihood remain the top concerns of hundreds of families transferred to resettlement sites in this city.

For Jennifer Regodon, 25, a mother of five, moving to the permanent shelter would mean more comfortable living condition, but she’s anxious of what the future holds.

“Moving to this place from the temporary shelter has raised more questions than answers – how are we going to sustain our daily needs? When are we going to have stable water supply?” Regodon asked.

Their new house at Villa Diana Subdivision in New Kawayan village is about eight kilometers away from the city center where her common-law husband, Rowel Taganna, earns a living from selling coconut juice three times in a week.

The housing site is also far from the school where their children are currently enrolled in Suhi village, eating up a chunk of their meager budget. Taganna only earns PHP300 a day and it’s lower during rainy days.

"When we were living at the transitional shelter, my children got sick a lot of times. It was very hard since the place has no health centers and far from hospitals. I’m worried that they will suffer illness again in this new home especially that I’m not sure if the water is safe,” Regodon said.

The family gets water from delivery trucks of the city government that brings 80 tons or 21,521 gallons of water daily to resettlement sites.

Regodon was eight months pregnant when Yolanda struck on Nov. 8, 2013. Their family evacuated to Sto. Nino Church a day before the storm. When the typhoon’s powerful winds whipped storm surges, they stepped on anything they could step on to climb to higher places for the dear life.

Her family is just one of the 144 families from transitional shelter in Suhi village that recently moved to Villa Diana subdivision, a project of the National Housing Authority. They stayed in that makeshift house for a year.

Young mother Joy Dela Rama is also worried of survival in their new homes. Her common –law husband Melquiades Malig-on only earns PHP400 daily from irregular construction works.

“Aside from higher fare to my husband’s workplace, we are also spending more to buy a safe drinking water,” said Dela Rama, who just moved to Villa Diana last month.

She asked the government to provide sustainable livelihood assistance to augment their income for the family’s growing needs.

When Yolanda struck, their family lived in Alimasag village, a community near the city’s airport where they earned from carpentry and operating a small retail store.

In the aftermath of the disaster, they waited for six days to get a free military plane ride to Manila, but they returned to the province after nearly two months for them to avail of housing units from the government.

“I thanked the government for this new house. We can sleep well at night even if it rains, but we still have to worry of sustainable income,” Dela Rama added.

City housing and community development office chief Maria Lagman said the government is doing its best to address the needs of families in resettlement sites.

One of the efforts is to push for immediate implementation of PHP90 million medium term water supply project for more than 2,000 families that moved to their new homes.

"The city government cannot do this alone. We have solicited support from national government agencies and non-organizations organization to address all basic needs of families," Lagman explained.

On livelihood support, the long term plan of the local government is to invite investors to set up business near resettlement sites. Also, there will be construction of terminal, market, health facilities, police stations, etc.

The city government needs PHP9.8 billion to fully develop the northern relocation sites intended for thousands of families severely affected by super typhoon Yolanda in 2013. (PNA) JMC/SQM with Aldwin John M. Cadayong (OJT)