PIA Dispatch - Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Resettlement of Marikina River Bank families begins

Sta. Rosa, Laguna -- Around 145 of 400 families along Marikina’s river banks have started relocating to their new houses as the National Housing Authority (NHA) and the Marikina City shuttled them round the clock to this 35-hectare Southville 4 NHA project.

Karen Dianona, a third year high school student of Fortune High School in Marikina, could not contain herself from expressing her gratitude to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who ordered their resettlement from the river banks of Marikina to this new site.

“She did not really forget us and always looks after our welfare,” she exclaimed.

Although the President was kept by her earlier engagement in Iloilo from attending the event here, Vice President Noli de Castro, who is also chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and NHA, took her place in distributing relief goods to the typhoon victims.

According to Susan Nonato, NHA Deputy Area Manager for South Luzon, Southville 4, covering Barangays Caingin and Pook, was programmed for the displaced settlers of the Northrail-Southrail portions of the Philippine National Railway totaling 5,292 families. But it still has rooms for 400 families of Marikina as committed last Saturday by the President during her Cabinet level meeting of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC).

Each unit measuring 21.5 square meters costs P175,000, payable over 30 years or P200 per month with a grace period of one year. The monthly installments will not be slapped any interest for five years. But the succeeding years will be charged an interest of six percent, Nonato said.

Lot size ranges from 32 to 36 square meters, Nonato said.

Nonato said there is a provision for two schools, multi purpose center, a production and training center, and a livelihood center (which will be equipped in collaboration with the Philippine Export Zone Authority, the provincial government of Sta. Rosa, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and the Technical Education Skills Development Authority) to provide skills training for the workers.

She, likewise, mentioned other possible relocation sites such as those in Binan, Laguna with 600 units and the Towerville also in Sta. Rosa with 400 units and other sites.

Nonato noted there is at present a slipper manufacturer in the area and “we will be proposing with the Marikina government to transfer some of the shoe manufacturing equipment to be brought here so the relocatees will have livelihood to earn from

UN cites government for quick, effective response

The Philippine Government was lauded by the United Nations (UN) for putting a quick and effective rescue and relief operation in place for those affected by Typhoon Ondoy.

In her speech during the Manila Flash Appeal launch at the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City on Oct. 7, Dr. Jacqueline Badcock, UN Resident Representative, noted that “the sense of national unity, from the highest levels of government to village communities, has been inspirational.

Anne Veneman, executive director of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), echoed Dr. Badcock’s observation. She said the response of the government was commendable, considering the fact that it had to reach so many people in widely separated areas all at the same time.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr., chairman of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), thanked the UN and acknowledged the assistance it had extended to the Philippines at a time when the capabilities of the country was strained to the limits.

The Flash Appeal was formally launched in Geneva the day before. Its purpose is to generate $74 million worth of assistance, in cash and in kind, from the international community to address the immediate needs of approximately one million people who suffered the most.

Dr. Badcock noted that “extensive search and rescue operations were launched immediately, involving the Armed Forces of the Philippines, [other] representatives of the government, the Red Cross, Filipino non-government organizations (NGOs), and local volunteers.

“Humanitarian assistance was also quick to arrive, from government departments and agencies, NGOs and private individuals,” she added. “All this has been underpinned with a remarkable sense of volunteerism and solidarity.”

“Yet despite the determination of the people of the Philippines to help themselves, the unanticipated scale of the floods understandably overwhelmed local capabilities,” she also said.

Thus, she explained, the urgent call for assistance was issued, but not after the UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination Team had made a rapid assessment of the flooding wrought by the typhoon in Metro Manila on Sept. 26.

According to Dr. Badcock, the UN has been consulting and working closely with the NDCC and other agencies of the government.

“We are mindful of the fact that the speed at which this initial Flash Appeal was finalized means that we do not yet have a comprehensive understanding of the needs in all areas due in part to the inaccessibility of some of the worst-affected areas,” Dr. Badcock went on. “The appeal will thus be revised in the coming weeks to ensure that projects and our overall strategy are in line with the latest data.”

Also on hand to field questions from the media were Social Welfare and Development Secretary Esperanza Cabral, Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap, and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

The launch was attended by members of the diplomatic corps, agencies of government, and socio-civic organizations, among others.

Donations to ‘Oplan Sagip Bayan’ reach P55.15 M

Donations to “Oplan Sagip Bayan” for the victims of typhoon “Ondoy” as of Oct. 6 have reached P55.15 million, Presidential Management Staff Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr. today reported to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Of the total, P244,368 were foodstuff and non-food relief items from the Office of the President (OP), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and an anonymous donor. 

The OP Assets Management sent 33 boxes of bottled water (500 ml) and 37 boxes of 250 ml worth P14,590; OP Deputy Executive Secretary Susana Vargas for Administrator and Finance, 1,100 bottles of 350 ml water worth P4,800; an anonymous donor sent 200 sacks of rice worth P182,500; and the DSWD sent 315 sacks of used clothing worth over P30,000.

As of 7 a.m. today, 10,117 bags of repacked relief goods were sent to six areas, bringing the total number of families served to 144,846.

A total of 2,350 family packs were loaded in three trucks headed for Montalban. An additional 1,754 presidential packs and 1,004 family packs were ready for loading, Esperon said.

About 2,447 people in 33 blighted areas bought a total of 13,059 kilos of subsidized rice from the National Food Authority (NFA) worth P317,475.

There were 143 volunteers from the Department of Public Works and Highways Parola Coast Guard, Armed Forces of the Philippines, barangay officials of Baseco Compound, Land Bank of the Philippines, the staff of Rep. Dato Arroyo, National Youth Commission, TESDA scholars, Singles for Christ, residents of Nagtahan and Binondo, and students from the Eulogio Amang Rodriguez Institute of Science and Technology, Centro Escolar University and San Beda College. The cumulative number of volunteers now total 5,645.

PGMA’s development agenda opens up new opportunities in Iloilo

ESTANCIA, Iloilo – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s economic development program in the countryside has opened up new trade opportunities and has uplifted the social and economic lives of residents here.

Noted for its abundant marine resources, Estancia lies in the Visayan sea triangle, an imaginary triangle covering the provinces of Iloilo, Negros, Cebu, Samar, and Masbate.

These marine products are transported to other Visayan islands and Manila through the Strong Republic Nautical Highway project of the Arroyo administration.

As a result, Estancia has been reclassified from a fourth class three years ago to a second class municipality.

Under the leadership of Mayor Restituto Mosqueda, the municipality has closely followed the national priorities of health, poverty alleviation, infrastructure, and resource management.

The municipality is set to expand its water district through a P30-million funding from the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA). The groundbreaking ceremony is slated next week.

The water supply system project is aimed at meeting the increasing demand for potable water by a steadily growing population for the next 30 years.