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Lakbayan ng Visayas decries militarization and continuing lack of rehabilitation

Survivors of suptertyphoon Yolanda from Eastern Visayas traveled to Manila to decry the lack of genuine rehabilitation three years after the disaster.

Participants of the Lakbayan ng Visayas said they came to remind President Rodrigo Duterte of his campaign promise to help the survivors, which seems to have been forgotten.

Instead, they now suffer militarization as Armed Forces of the Philippines units are being deployed in their communities, the protesters said. Read more

Yolanda survivors call out Duterte in Mendiola rally

Supertyphoon Yolanda survivors from Eastern Visayas trooped to Mendiola last November 28 to challenge President Rodrigo Duterte to make good on his promise of change.

The Lakbayan ng Visayas (Caravan of the Visayas) arrived in Metro Manila in several buses demanding justice for the previous administration’s failure to provide them relief since 2013.

“Eastern Visayas should have been rehabilitated properly right after what was called the ‘strongest typhoon in history.’ But after three years, we continue to suffer the poverty and hunger due to the governments’ criminal neglect,” People’s Surge chairperson Dr. Efleda Bauista said.

“We are not only here to call for justice for the victims of supertyphoon Yolanda, but also to demand that president Duterte fulfill his promise to help us,” Bautista said.

“They say that poverty has gone down in Eastern Visayas, when the truth is the exact opposite,” Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Eastern Visayas secretary-general Rey Peralta for his part said.

“Even today, the farmers from the region remain unable to put food on the table and send their children to school because there are still no decent jobs to be found in Eastern Visayas,” Peralta added.

Militarization

The caravan also called for an end to militarization in the region, citing the military’s gross disrespect of the ongoing respective ceasefire declarations by the Duterte government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines.

“Eastern Visayans, already victimized by the typhoon and corruption, consistently get harrassed by the military,” Anakbayan chairperson Vencer Crisostomo said.

“The military in the region even go as far as saying that the ceasefire is only for the NPA, and not them. They refuse to leave the communities and continue to rob and harrass them,” Crisostomo added.

Marcos burial

In Mendiola, the caravan participants condemned the burial of Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani.

“The unrepentant Marcoses do not deserve any ounce of rehabilitation. Instead, it is the people of Eastern Visayas who rightly deserve it,” Bautista said.

They further encouraged people to support the upcoming Lakbayan and the people of the Visayas in their struggle.

“We endured the hardships of leaving our families and journeying to Metro Manila to make our demands heard. We hope the people would listen,” Peralta said.

“Before we leave the capital, we expect the Duterte government to provide us with a concrete answer to our problems,” Peralta added.

The caravan participants are staying at the Mabini Campus of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines in Sta. Mesa where are staying for the duration of the Lakbayan. # (Abril Layad B. Ayroso)

 

Groups insist on government accountability for Yolanda Victims

On the third anniversary of Supertyphoon Haiyan (Yolanda) Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-National Capital Region held a symbolic candle-lighting ceremony for the victims and survivors of the disaster last November 8 in Quiapo, Manila.

Bayan-NCR chairperson Raymond Palatino said the Benigno Aquino administration should still be held accountable for what they say was its inefficient and unjust response to the disaster.

Officials of the current Rodrigo Duterte government have reported that while many of the victims and survivors have still to receive material and monetary aid, only P30 million of the Yolanda rehabilitation funds remain from hundreds of billions.

The protesters are also calling for continuing rehabilitation of areas and citizens in the affected areas. Read more

RADIO TACLOBAN PODCAST: Yolanda survivors commemorate 3rd Yolanda anniversary

This podcast is part of the preparations for the eventual establishment of Radio Tacloban, a women-led disaster risk reduction community radio station project of the International Association of Women in Radio and Television-Philippine Chapter, in cooperation with Kodao Productions and Eastern Vista media groups with the assistance of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines-Eastern Visayas Ecumenical District and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines.

This podcast includes reports from volunteer broadcasters the project trains to become anchors, reporters, technicians and staff of Radio Tacloban.  Radio Tacloban aims to empower women by offering them a mass medium where they could claim for themselves the power to confront disasters and other issues.

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People Surge: Emergency Shelter Assistance, ibigay na sa mga biktima ng Bagyong Yolanda

Naglunsad ng isang piket-dayalog sa Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) at Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) ang mga biktima ng Bagyong Yolanda kasama ang iba pang mga biktima ng Bagyong Ruby at Senyang.

Ipinapanawagan ng grupo na ipamahagi na ng gubyerno ang Emergency Shelter Assistance sa mga residenteng nasalanta ng Bagyong Yolanda.

May 13, 2015