An Ilagan City barangay chairperson prevented relief delivery to flood victims in her community and ordered the confiscation of food items for distribution last Thursday, November 19, a regional farmers group reported.
Hacienda Sta. Isabel Norte chairperson Leonora Uy allegedly ordered a stop to the humanitarian activity for hundreds of farmers in her barangay after allowing photos to be taken of only a few residents receiving food items, the group Danggayan iti Mannalon ti Cagayan Valley (Danggayan) said on its Facebook page.
Danggayan said it properly coordinated with Uy on the relief activity who in turn suggested it be held at the barangay covered court “in order for the facility to be of some use.”
Relief goods being readied for distribution but were ordered confiscated by a local executive. (Danggayan photo)
The barangay executive also wanted that all residents should be recipients of the activity, prompting the relief workers to divide each pack into two to benefit twice as many families and accommodate Uy’s wishes.
But the chairperson ordered the relief items to be confiscated after photos have been taken of 10 beneficiaries receiving them, the farmers group said.
“Photo ops lang pala ang pinayagan,” Danggayan said in a statement. (She only allowed the photo opportunity, it turns out.)
Uy reportedly said the barangay would re-pack the relief goods and take over the distribution.
Danggayan said the farmers disagreed, sure that many would later be denied the relief items.
“Ayon sa kapitan, kung hindi daw i-turn over sa kanya ang ayudang pagkain ay i-pull out na lang ito dahil hindi naman daw siya humiling ng ayudang pagkain. Pati ang mineral water ay ayaw siyang pumayag na ipamigay sa mga residente,” Danggayan reported. (According to Uy, the relief food items should be pulled out if these would not be turned over to them as she did not ask for them in the first place. She even refused to have drinking water distributed to the residents.)
The local executive even refused the distribution of drinking water to flood victims. (Danggayan photo)
The group said Uy’s decision angered residents and decided to continue the distribution at the house of farmer-leaders.
Two barangay councilors reportedly disagreed with Uy’s decision and helped in the distribution.
The relief items, worth PhP200,000 were donated by local groups Dagami, Tulong Kabataan, Tulong Sulong CV, Cagayan Valley Disaster Response Center Inc. and others. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
(Efforts to seek Uy’s comment failed as her supporters refuse to give the executive’s contact details. Kodao is still seeking ways to talk to Uy.)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/1-10.jpg960959Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2020-11-21 08:46:012020-11-21 08:46:05Barangay chairperson halts relief distribution in Isabela, insists on taking over
Pandemic response is taking up bulk of resources, including funds meant for disaster management.
By Estrella Torres, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
The coastal towns of Dolores and Sulat in Eastern Samar constantly battle with the impact of extreme weather events such as storm surges, flash floods and typhoons.
Early this year, the leaders of the two towns were set to conduct training for emergency response teams, buy rescue equipment and early warning devices from their calamity funds, but the Covid-19 pandemic got in the way and wiped out their calamity funds to prevent the entry of the virus.
“The province was not ready to have a Covid-19 case,” said Manuel Catuday, head of Municipal Disaster Risk Resilience Management Office (MDRRMO) of Dolores. “We don’t have a government hospital, only a rural health center with one doctor.”
A community hospital in Dolores has been dilapidated since last year, and has not been repaired, he said. The next government hospital is in Tacloban City, which is at least a four-hour drive.
Covid-19 came at a time when the localities have not even completely recovered from the onslaught of Typhoons Yolanda and Ruby, which struck a year apart.
While the government was still on post-Yolanda operations, Ruby came in November 2014 and caused severe damage to homes, crops and farmlands that were still being rehabilitated. There was not enough public attention in the aftermath of Ruby as Yolanda was still fresh in the minds of government officials as well as the general public.
A piece of G.I. sheet is seen on top of an electrical post in Barangay Sagkahan, Tacloban City after Typhoon Yolanda made landfall and claimed around 6,000 lives. Photograph: Bernard Testa
“Lahat ng hanapbuhay namin nawala (All our sources of livelihood were destroyed),” said Rio Caspe, 42, a fisherman from Barangay San Francisco in Sulat whose house was destroyed by Typhoon Ruby.
His three children and wife had to rely on the meager earnings of their small sari-sari store as massive flooding made fishing difficult.
Caspe said his neighbors were also cash-strapped because their crops such as banana, rice and copra were destroyed by the typhoon.
“We only relied on relief goods while staying in an evacuation center,” said Caspe.
Funds depleted
Dolores, a third-class municipality, earmarked P8 million in calamity funding for 2020 to prepare and protect its 42,000 people or 12,700 families from the impact of natural calamities.
However, the funds had to be realigned to buy personal protective equipment (PPE) for community volunteers as well as hygiene kits and food packs for residents during the lockdown, which was imposed to prevent the spread of Covid-19. The national government’s Bayanihan fund gave Dolores a P14-million subsidy to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are now sourcing from this (Bayanihan) fund for our response to Covid-19 pandemic,” said Catuday.
The town also has to spend for at least 900 LSIs or locally stranded individuals who arrived in Dolores from March to June.
Dolores, Sulat, and seven other towns in Samar were placed under state of calamity in May when Typhoon Ambo, the first typhoon to visit the country this year, pummeled the province. As usual, the storm destroyed crops and damaged houses, displacing more than 140,000 people.
Most houses in these towns are made of light materials.
“Matagal bago kami makabangon, hirap kasi ang pagpapagawa (It takes a long time to recover because we don’t have enough money to repair our houses),” said Catuday.
Charlie Rosaroso, head of the Sulat MDRRMO, said at least P1.5 million or 30 percent of the P5.1 million calamity fund for 2020 was spent to provide emergency assistance to families affected by Typhoon Ambo. The remaining funds were depleted by the Covid-19 response.
He said he was only able to spare P300,000 to continue the training for volunteers on emergency response.
Provinces and cities get 5 percent of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), the local governments’ share of national tax collections, for disaster risk resilience (DRR) under Republic Act 10121 or the Philippine Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act of 2010.
Of the total calamity fund, 70 percent is allocated to prevention, mitigation and preparedness, and 30 percent is set aside as a Quick Response Fund (QRF).
“What is left of our calamity fund is now being used for our Covid-19 response,” said Rosaroso. These include relief goods, PPE for volunteers, hygiene kits, food packs for residents, as well as LSIs and ROFs (returning overseas Filipinos) undergoing quarantine.
Sulat has hosted close to 200 LSIs since March.
A fourth-class municipality with a population of close to 16,000, Sulat does not have a hospital, but there is one doctor in each of the rural health centers in 18 barangays, said Rosaroso.
As of Aug. 10, there were eight confirmed cases of Covid-19 infection in Eastern Samar and most of them came from Metro Manila. Both Catuday and Rosaroso said there were no confirmed cases in their towns, as they work even on Sundays to ensure health and hygiene protocols are properly implemented.
Mario Candelaria, chairman of Barangay San Francisco in Sulat, said: “An infection here is a nightmare because we don’t have a hospital.”
“Noon ‘pag galing Maynila sinasalubong ng mga taga dito, ngayon nilalayuan na (Before, those who arrived from Manila got a welcome, now people avoid them,” said Candelaria.
He said the P110,000 calamity fund of San Francisco has also been used for food packs, hygiene kits, and for disinfecting public facilities.
Exposed and vulnerable
The Philippines ranked second in terms of exposure and vulnerability to climate-related risks in the Global Climate Change Risk Report for 2020 of Germanwatch, the environment think tank. Japan topped the list.
Red Constantino, executive director of the Institute for Climate and Sustainable Cities (ICSC), said the report showed that “Those who are least responsible for the problem, are the ones who are suffering the most. This is unacceptable.”
“The pandemic has largely revealed systemic weaknesses that would have just taken more time to uncover otherwise,” said Constantino.
A man swims neck-deep in water in San Francisco Del Monte, Quezon City at the height of Typhoon Maring in 2017. Photograph: Bernard Testa
The German report noted that strong tropical cyclones such as Bopha (“Pablo”) 2012, Haiyan (“Yolanda”) 2013 and Mangkhut (“Ompong”) 2018 have been recorded in the last 10 years, affecting mostly the poor and vulnerable population.
At least 74 percent of the country’s population is susceptible to multiple hazards, including coastal hazards such as typhoons, storm surges and rising sea levels, according to the 2018 World Risk Report. The report ranked the Philippines third among countries most vulnerable to disaster risks.
The catastrophic impact of Tropical Depression Ondoy in 2009 cost Marikina and Pasig cities P22.54 billion, of which Pasig accounted for 90 percent.
Rich city gets more money
This time around, Pasig City had to let go of critical spending for disaster risk resilience programs due to the pandemic response, said Bryant Wong, the city disaster risk reduction and management officer. These included reducing the number of fire engines and rescue vehicles to be purchased.
“We did not expect Covid-19 pandemic to affect us all, but we need to respond to it the best way we can,” Wong said.
Unlike Sulat and Dolores, however, Pasig City Hall has deeper pockets and generous donors.
Of the P600-million calamity fund for 2020, the city government has spent half for the Covid-19 pandemic response, Wong said.
It also managed to utilize an additional P200 million from the P300 million DRR savings in the last five years.
Other funding sources for Pasig City’s Covid-19 response included a P1.2-billion supplemental fund for the Social Amelioration Program (SAP) and another P1.2 billion for tablets to be used by students for online classes, from the Special Education Fund.
The city also received P136 million from the Bayanihan fund, equivalent to one month of its IRA.
Wong said private donations of beds, PPEs, hygiene kits and rapid testing kits worth P50 million boosted the city’s pandemic response.
The private sector also donated 100,000 food packs to Pasig.
In the case of Sulat and Dolores towns, there are no big corporate donors, which meant that the money for food packs distributed to locked-down residents came from their calamity funds.
Funding sources
Undersecretary Ricardo Jalad of the Office of Civil Defense, also the executive director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Council (NDRRMC), told local government units (LGUs) in a webinar in July to learn “to adjust, transform and adapt strategies to manage response to Covid-19 pandemic and prepare for multiple hazards from natural calamities.”
During the webinar, John Aries Macaspac, a director of the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), enumerated funding sources for the Covid-19 response, including the Special DRRM Trust Fund or the savings from DRR funds in the last five years, a month’s worth of IRA from the national government and realigned funds from the General Fund. LGUs may also use 20 percent of their development funds for the purchase of PPEs, rapid test kits, vitamins, medicines, accommodation and expenses of health workers, construction of rental quarantine facilities, mobile testing labs, tents, shelters for the homeless, and training for pandemic response, under guidelines issued by the DBM and the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
The “Bayanihan to Heal as One” or Republic Act 11469 allocated P37 billion for the emergency Covid-19 response of LGUs. It allocated P12.4 billion to all cities; P18.39 billion to municipalities and P6.2 billion to provinces.
Constantino said responses to the Covid-19 pandemic and climate emergency should go hand in hand, as both require the expertise of scientists and policies and actions based on evidence.
Scientists, he noted, advised physical distancing to prevent the transmission Covid-19 while waiting for a vaccine to be developed. Scientists have also stressed the urgency of limiting the rise of global temperatures to below 1.5 degrees Celsius to avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
“We do not have the luxury to choose whether we need protection from the deadly fevers induced by the novel coronavirus or from an increasingly feverish planet. Just as climate change is not an environmental problem but a development crisis, so is Covid-19 not merely a human health crisis but an ecological problem,” said Constantino.
==
About the Author:
Estrella Torres is a journalist who has worked for major English dailies in the Philippines for 20 years. She is now the Head of Media and Communications of Save the Children Philippines. Save the Children implements a program on improving the quality of disaster response and preparedness in the typhoon-stricken municipalities of Sulat and Dolores in Eastern Samar.
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/PCIJ-Yolanda-Photo-1-Bernard-Testa-1-scaled.jpg17072560Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2020-09-04 09:07:462020-09-04 09:07:48Heavy cost of coronavirus response drains local governments’ disaster budgets
If the government were just pro-masses than pro-rich and pro-foreigners, it would have directed the Philippine Army or even the Philippine National Police (PNP) to use more trucks so they could pick up the animals, cattle, horses, pigs, chicken, etcetera suddenly left by the evacuees in Batangas in their habitats in order to escape the eruption of Taal volcano last Jan. 12. Whether they wanted to stay behind in their houses or take their animals with them, the evacuees found themselves in a very difficult position because they were ordered to evacuate and they do not own trucks to carry their animals with them. Army trucks, which have transported the population affected by the eruption, should also fetch the animals of the evacuees to save the livelihoods of the latter. More trucks should have been provided by the Philippine Army or the PNP as many of these are just standing idly by in military camps. It is to be noted that the army has acquired 219 new trucks from South Korea in 2017 to augment their other hundreds of trucks. Surely, not all of these are being used to fight the rebels or are they?
If the government were just right-minded, it should bring the
rescued animals and even fruits to public lands to sell or auction to
interested parties to help the devastated families of the volcanic eruption.
The owners of these animals have no more space to care for them as their abodes
have become uninhabitable and they are willing to sell their animals to the
public to obtain capital to start anew in life. This is the least that a
responsible government can do for the thousands of Batangueños and others
displaced by the eruption as the masses are the foremost capital of society
which make it rich with their labor power to run our agricultural and
industrial sectors, but with workers always at a losing end because of low
wages given to them by the owners of the means of production. Many Batangueño
hog and chicken farmers as well as cattle raisers are even paying good taxes to
the government which augment the latter’s coffers. The government has allocated
P30 billion as emergency supplemental budget for calamity fund to the approved
regular budget of P20 billion of the National Disaster Risk Reduction
Management, making the total calamity fund at P50 billion in the P4.1 trillion
budget of 2020. It must be pointed out that the calamity fund has been
decreased by P11 billion in the 2020 national budget. Compare this to the
increase of the budget for the Office of the President by 21% from P6.8 billion
in 2019 to P8.24 billion in 2020. The P4.5 billion of the Office of the
President budget is meant for his so-called confidential and intelligence fund,
including monetary rewards to PNP officers who can neutralize drug
personalities! The calamity fund instead of being decreased should be raised
tenfold since the Philippines lies in a disaster-prone area, as witnessed in
its numerous floods, earthquakes and volcano eruptions, which have come in
series last year and this month of January. It is more called for now to
increase the calamity fund as the Philippines has been declared by the UN as
among the leading countries in the world to be affected by climate change.
Bayan Muna representatives Ferdie Gaite and Eufemia Cullamat, along with former Representative Neri Colmenares distribute relief goods to victims of the Taal Volcano eruption.
Compare further the measly amount of the regular calamity fund
at P20 billion to the allocated budget for the payment of interest alone of our
foreign debts, which has increased by 13% from P399 billion in 2019 to P441
billion in 2020, all to be passed on to the Fillipino people. The Duterte
regime has borrowed anew from the Chinese for his so called Build-Build-Build
program, mostly expected to be funded by Chinese banks. The BBB program of
Duterte is mere bluster as befits him because of the 75 projects planned, only
nine have been started and it is already the last lap of his term. Many of
these projects will just enrich Chinese banks and firms like, for example, the
Kaliwa Dam project in Quezon Province, costing $3.7 billion, 85% of which will
come from Chinese loans and which will displace hundreds of Dumagats from their
ancestral lands. Why is Duterte so partial to Chinese loans when its interest
rate is so high, at 2 to 3% per annum compared to Japanese interest rate which
is 0.25% to 0.75%? The loans from China are also all tied-loans, which means we
will have to purchase its technology and machines and hire Chinese personnel
and workers to undertake a project.
Instead of having a development program only meant for show or
to grandstand but which is becoming chaotic for lack of careful planning as the
BBB which Duterte has dubbed the “golden age of infrastructure”, the
government should prioritize the welfare of the general masses. A huge special
Industrial Fund for SMEs (small and medium scale enterprises) and Agricultural
Fund for farmers should be put up to extend to borrowers low-interest or no
interest loans, depending upon the status of a family. These loans can also be
augmented by a great portion of government savings every year and the calamity
fund lying stagnant in banks. Such industrial and agricultural loans shall
include bigger loans for capital investments by Filipino entrepreneurs like pig
and chicken raisers, and shops and store owners whose livelihoods were
destroyed by a calamity. Evacuees are desperately in need of financial help to
start a new life and it is the task of a government to live up to its role as
caretaker of the common good, instead of surreptitiously juggling its revenues
to favor special interests specially in Congress. A great part of the
government revenues come from the masses, especially from Train 1 and 2 or the
tax increases of basic goods which have hit the ordinary consumers so hard but
reduced the taxes of the rich. The Industrial and Agricultural Funds intended
for development undertakings by the majority masses must be increased
substantially annually to accelerate national development and prosperity
instead of hiking such unproductive fund like the budget for the Office of the
President which as we indicated above rose by 21% in 2020 from 2019.
It is about time that preferential allocation be made for
Filipino enterprises, including farming ventures, since small and medium scale
enterprises (SMEs), owned by Filipinos, employ 60% of the national labor force
and not the big companies, including the MNCs. Wages in all Philippine
enterprises should also be closely monitored by the Department of Labor and
Employment. Daily wages should be mandated by law to increase to P1500 which
will give at least a decent living to a family of five due to the decline of
the real value of the peso caused by the constant rise of consumer prices,
which had been particularly taken advantage of by the Western oil companies,
specially American and British. These foreign oil companies had almost every
month raised oil prices, particularly that of gas so that we have the most
expensive gas prices in Southeast Asia. The basic wages and salaries of all
government workers should likewise be raised to the decent level of living as
with private workers. And whenever there is a rise of prices of goods and
services, wages and salaries should be indexed to them or adjusted accordingly.
The rationale for the increases in the national budget to favor the Filipino
masses and the protection of their economic well-being by laws is that it will
tap their full productive capacity which will benefit the whole of our society.
Relief goods being distributed to victims of the Taal Volcano eruption.
As for the budget for the construction of new houses in
designated public lands for those evacuees whose homes were destroyed, the
responsibility will fall on the lap of the Department of Human Settlement and
Urban Development which has been allocated a low budget of P5.6 billlion in
2020. Compare this again to the P8 billion allocated to the Office of the
President and you will know how greedy this president is for money that is not
his.
If the government remains as irresponsible as it is now without
even having any semblance of a pro-masses national development program for
industry and agriculture, which will involve the direct participation of the
Filipino masses in their organizations, the Philippines will be in the same rut
as it is at present with its increase of wealth (GDP), mostly derived from
credits or fictitious capital (hot money) in the finance market, particularly
in the stock market, only benefitting 1% of the population. How could we expect
for this Duterte government to launch a truly pro-masses relief program for all
Filipino evacuees from calamities when it has even bungled up its so-called
flagship program for a drug-free Philippines called Tokhang, which has become a
total mess and failure due again to a lack of careful planning and strategy? Or
is Tokhang just a big cover-up for something very sinister that favors Chinese
drug lords? The masses, led by their organizations, must act now instead of
relying on this neo-colonial, tyrannical and corrupt regime, masquerading as
the true government of the Filipino people. #
The
author is the former chairperson of the Development Studies Program of
University of the Philippines at Manila. A Batangan, he is a grandson of
General Miguel Malvar.
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/s2.jpg563750Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2020-01-22 15:09:562020-01-22 15:12:33Launch a Truly-Pro Masses Relief Program
Department of Social Work and Development (DSWD) official and veteran disaster responder Carlos Padolina died in a road accident Friday night in Balingasag, Misamis Oriental.
Padolina, DSWD Climate Adaptation and Mitigation deputy program director, died after a motorcycle hit the tricycle he was riding at about midnight, a colleague told Kodao.
In a Facebook post, Padolina’s colleague Caroline Quevedo Catalan said it was a “sudden death.”
“After our orientation, he requested that we bring him to the bus terminal (bound) for Cagayan de Oro…By 11 pm, he took the tricycle from Balingasag area to (the) terminal and then they were hit by a drag-racing motorcycle that was without a headlight,” Catalan wrote.
Padolina was reportedly thrown off the sidecar and suffered massive internal haemorrhage that led to his death.
Padolina was in Mindanao to hold a program orientation with Caraga local government units and people’s organizations in Butuan City.
From Butuan, Padolina dropped by Balingasag to meet with other disaster response colleagues.
Padolina joined the DSWD in September 2016 after decades of disaster preparedness and response work with the Citizens’ Disaster Response Center and children’s rights advocacy with the Children’s Rehabilitation Center and Salinlahi.
(Photo from Padolina’s FB page)
The first major disaster response he participated with DSWD was supertyphoon Lawin that hit Northern Luzon in 2016 while among his last was Mount Mayon’s eruption earlier this year.
Before joining DSWD, Padolina spearheaded numerous relief and rehabilitation programs across the Philippines for nearly three decades.
He was reportedly planning to go back to CDRC after nearly two years with the DSWD.
The victim’s family has already been notified of his death, the source said.
The DSWD is planning to hold a tribute to Padolina during its flag-raising ceremony on Monday. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)
https://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/kaloy-3.jpg496900Kodao Productionshttps://kodao.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/kodao.pngKodao Productions2018-04-28 11:21:432018-04-29 08:37:46Veteran disaster responder Carlos Padolina dies in road accident
