Hoping graft won’t prolong misery of calamity survivors

As the Philippines struggles to rise from Typhoon “Lando’s” (international name: Koppu) devastation, Filipino-Kiwi solidarity groups are hoping corruption won’t prolong the misery of poor Filipinos trying to access aid.

On Oct. 12-17, 2015, in a speaking tour hosted by Auckland Philippines Solidarity, Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa and Wellington Kiwi-Pinoy, Dr. Efleda Bautista of People Surge, the Typhoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) survivors’ alliance, described the corruption and neglect that hampered the Yolanda relief effort. The government’s “Build Back Better” project assisted big business to build back better, she said, but the poor survivors’ need for housing and livelihood assistance remained neglected. Almost two years on, many have not yet received their share of “emergency shelter assistance.”

In Wellington, Bautista met with members of Parliament from the Green Party, Labour Party and NZ First and requested them to investigate how New Zealand aid money was spent.

According to the Philippines’ Commission on Audit, millions of pesos in Yolanda relief donations to the Philippine government are sitting in banks. There have also been many reports of spoiled food packs and expired medicines in storage. These tell us that the government sees no urgency in delivering much-needed aid for the people. Shopping malls were quickly rebuilt, while thousands of survivors remain in bunkhouses that were supposed to be temporary shelters. Only 13 health facilities have been rebuilt; and out of the 19,648 classrooms targeted for construction or rebuilt, only 213 have been finished. The poor live in hand-to-mouth existence while waiting for government to deliver long-term rehabilitation assistance.

Poor Filipinos devastated by Lando and Yolanda, especially those in farming and fishing communities, need urgent livelihood assistance. We hope that a closer scrutiny of how international aid is administered will remind the Philippine government of its duty to be accountable to the people.

—MURRAY HORTON, secretary, Philippines Solidarity Network of Aotearoa, cafca@chch.planet.org.nz; CAMERON WALKER, spokesperson, Auckland Philippines Solidarity, ph.solidarity@gmail.com; EDWARD MILLER, coordinator, Wellington Kiwi-Pinoy, edwardcrmiller@gmail.com