2 years homeless and counting

The bad news is that two years after super typhoon Yolanda devastated the country, particularly central Visayas, at least one million survivors are still without safe homes.

Tacloban bore the brunt of the typhoon as it was nearly completely destroyed and thousands died. While rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts are still ongoing, many survivors still live in temporary shelters that are vulnerable to fierce storms spawned in the Pacific Ocean every year.

Leyte is among the poorest provinces in the country. Thus, the Yolanda survivors really need support from the government, the private sector and non-government organizations to help them resume normal lives.

And for them to get back on their feet requires that the government help them move to permanent homes.

While the Aquino administration has launched a P150 billion reconstruction program for the disaster zones, much of it has been spent on roads, bridges and schools, according to NEDA. Money has also been used as start-up capital for survivors to start small businesses, as well as farm and fishing supplies.

Many of the others who have yet to receive new homes are simply living in repaired or rebuilt homes.

The government is aiming to relocate nearly 100,000 families by next year, with the project to be completed by 2017, according to the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.

This means that the Yolanda survivors would have to wait two more years before they can have a home they can call their own.

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