By Leilani S. Junio
TACLOBAN CITY, PHILIPPINES, June 26 (PNA) — A total of 872 families who survived the devastation caused by super typhoon “Yolanda” in November 2013 have now transferred to their permanent housing units in Ridge View Park 1 in Barangay 97, Cabalawan, Tacloban City.
The families came from the resettlement/bunkhouse sites in IPI (International Pharmaceutical Inc.) in San Jose, Abucay and National Housing Authority (NHA) areas.
According to Jose F. Dabuet Jr., project development officer (PDO) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Risk Reduction and Management Program in Tacloban City, the 872 families are currently occupying 1,000 units in Ridge View Park 1.
Ridge View Park 2, on the other hand, can accommodate another 1,000 families.
All in all, about 2,000 families can be accommodated by Ridge View Park 1 and 2.
Dabuet said the families transferred to the new site have been given “pabaon packs” consisting of one sack of rice, plastic mat, mosquito net, blanket and cooking pot that they can use in their new homes.
He added that as a social preparation, the families have also been provided with training skills through the partnership of DSWD with non-governmental and governmental organisations.
He also said that many of the families were transferred from Barangay San Jose before the school opening earlier this month.
Dabuet said that since the children of the families cannot be accommodated in other public schools nearby, the DSWD and its partners have made interventions by ensuring that there are temporary classrooms set up in the relocation site.
More than 600 school children are currently studying in the temporary classrooms in the site.
At a closer look, the families staying there seem to be happy and beginning to feel safe and secured.
Some residents try to earn a living by engaging in food selling business through “merienda” for school children.
Leo Canabe, from IPI San Jose, has put up a store as his source of income.
Canabe said that resiliency and willingness to start again coupled with hard work is something that should be done by someone who wants to overcome difficult times like the “Yolanda” devastation in 2013.
“Pag gustong bumangon, makakabangon pero pag tatamad-tamad ka, wala talaga,” he said.
Roselyn Pacampara said that at present, livelihood source for the survivors is something that should be given focus by the incoming administration.
Pacampara noted that having “permanent source of income” through job creation programs can help a lot in enhancing the lives of her fellow survivors.
She said that it will help a lot if there will be factories or establishments that can be put up in the area which can hire some of them.
“It is something that we are praying for and looking forward to happen,” she said, adding that she knows a lot of survivors who are eager to have jobs which will not be very far from them and there is no need for them to spend for transportation fare.
“In that case, those who have small children to look after can easily check the condition of their children,” she added.
She said that at present, her husband has resumed his previous job as fisherman while she sometimes engages in selling fish when the prices are “affordable” by customers.
Her sister, Cristina Pacampara, a single mother staying with their mother in one of the units in the site, said that the place provides them a sense of security where they can forget the fear they experienced during the typhoon’s devastation.
Each unit in Ridge View Park has a comfort room, a kitchen and can accommodate families with five members.
The unit has a loop which the occupants can expand into second floor to create at least two additional rooms.
Painting of the units and enhancing them will solely depend on the capability of the occupants as their counterpart.
The payment for the said units is set at an affordable rates by the NHA.
Cristina said the unit they are occupying right now is very much different and much better than the one they had before and which was destroyed by “Yolanda.”
She said that at present, they are awaiting for the water filtration project in the site to get operationalised.
Once in operation, the said water filtration project of the DSWD and partners is expected to yield an average of P200 water utility payment per family.
A yearly income of P200,000 is expected to be generated from the said utility payments which can be set aside and used by the residents as their common fund for maintenance or repair.
Part of that income can also be used for putting up a cooperative which can help fellow residents who want to borrow money for their small business ventures.
To date, water from the filtration tanks has been tested twice by the Leyte Metropolitan Water District (LMWD) and by the Department of Health (DOH) and approved potable and safe for drinking.
An electric connection though is needed for the water system to work and for water to flow to the designated faucets in the resettlement site.
While the water system is not operationalised yet, the DSWD is assisting by providing fuel for the delivery trucks of the Department of Public works and Highways (DPWH) supplying water to the residents.
