More than a case of delayed funding

WORDS ARE just wind. It’s the action that counts.

The government, in particular the National Housing Authority (NHA), would like the public to believe that the delay in the delivery of shelter assistance to households affected by Supertyphoon “Yolanda” is just a case of delayed funding. Of the P61.262 billion required, only P22.996 billion or 44 percent has been released (“Funding for ‘Yolanda’ housing delayed—NHA,” News, 10/13/15).

On the other hand, of the P22.996 billion that has been released, the NHA could only report 11,948 houses “completed”; and another 4,606 houses are “75 percent complete.” Extrapolating from the figures it provided during a hearing conducted by the House committee on climate change, the NHA should have been able to construct 88,847 houses with the P22.996 billion. This means that the NHA has achieved just 13 percent of its target, or 19 percent even if the 75-percent-complete houses are included.

Why present the problem as a case of delayed funding when the NHA could not even deliver on funds already in its bank account? The numbers indicate that the greater problem is the failure to deliver shelter assistance urgently needed by vulnerable households most affected by Yolanda.

A local NGO, the Assistance and Cooperation for Community Resilience and Development, had assisted 11,176 households to build back safer homes, as of December 2014. This local NGO, with less resources compared to international NGOs, much less to government with all the resources at its disposal, appears to have done better. Of course the shelter package of the NGO is much, much smaller than the NHA’s P303,847 cost per shelter. But the unit cost of the shelter is altogether another story.

The people affected by Yolanda deserve better. Two years after the disaster, everyone should take pride in what has been done already but, more importantly, reflect on what has been left to neglect. To dismiss criticisms of failure in timely service delivery as mere propaganda of traditional politicians, or leftist rhetoric, is a disservice to the Filipinos who are still trying to recover from Yolanda. It is mocking their basic human right to life with dignity.

—CELSO DULCE, advisor, Humanitarian and Integrated Risk Management, 1223 Quezon Avenue, Quezon City