Yolanda Campaign Primer

8/10/2019 Yolanda Campaign Primer

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1. What was the state of Eastern Visayas before typhoon Yolanda's onslaught?

Eastern Visayas has three major islands Leyte, Samar and Biliran. It is composed of six

provinces Northern Samar, (Western) Samar, Eastern Samar, (Northern) Leyte, Southern

Leyte and Biliran. It has a total land area of 2,325,400 hectares. In 2010, it had a population

of 4,101,322.

The region's economy is principally agrarian. The principal products are coconut, abaca

and rice. There are secondary products such as corn, banana, sugarcane and other crops

as well. Moreover, EV is one of the leading fish exporters in the country. The region is also

rich in bauxite, chromite, magnetite, gold and other minerals, such that in 2011, there were

29 big mining companies in the region. In 2011, 69.5% of EV's population depended on

agriculture and fishing for livelihood.

Despite the natural resources in EV, the people are poor.In 2012, EV ranked as the second

poorest region in the country, next to the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao. The

poverty incidence in the region stands at 45.2%, meaning that four to five out of 10 people

are considered poor. Each family subsists on an annual average of 18,075.88 or 49 every

day. The basic human needs are met by less than a third of the population. Because of

poverty, EV has one of the biggest populations migrating out of the region in the country.

2.

What was the effect of supertyphoon Yolanda's onslaught?

Supertyphoon Yolanda, or Haiyan internationally, caused destruction unprecedented in

the region's history. According to official reports of the Aquino government, more than

8,000 died, most of them living along the coast, but there is also an estimate that as many

as 18,000 may have died because of the storm.

By the Aquino government's data, the damage to agriculture was estimated at 62.107B in

nine regions, 80% of this in EV or equivalent to only 49.86B. This is far from People Surge's

studies putting the damage to agriculture at 64.5B in EV alone.

Most of the products and commerce in the region were totally destroyed by typhoon

Yolanda. The revenue sources in four of six provinces in EV were obliterated, including the

alternative sources of food. The region's agriculture suffered the biggest blow. The coconut

and banana crops as well as fishponds, on which the masses relied for livelihood and food,were hard-hit. The damage to coconuts already reached 41.958 based on just two years'

computation of loss of foregone production.

All coconut fields in Leyte, Biliran, Eastern Samar and Western Samar were damaged,where 60% were knocked down, and 40% remained standing but the trees had lost their

fruits and leaves, and would need two to three years to be productive. Of those that were

knocked down, it would take seven to 10 years to restore coconut production.

In Leyte, Biliran and Eastern Samar, there was up to 100% damage for abaca, bananas,

sweet potatoes, cassava and vegetables. Meanwhile, the damage to fisheries reached

6.428 billion, as well as 500 million in fishing equipment.


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Moreover, 4.4 million of the total 16 million population in the 14 worst-hit provinces lost their

houses to typhoon Yolanda's fury. Up to 1,012,790 houses were affected, where 48.76%

were partially damaged and 51.24% were totally destroyed. The total value of all

damaged houses reached 325.25 billion. But according to the Aquino government, only

183.15 billion is needed for housing reconstruction.

The services of electricity, water, communications, education and transportation, as well as

trading, were paralyzed, especially in the worst-hit places.

According to the Department of Education, 3,171 schools throughout the country were

destroyed. The Department of Health also stated 432 health facilities were destroyed and

these are just in MIMAROPA, Central Visayas, Western Visayas and Eastern Samar.

In the aftermath of the calamity, the prices of basic commodities rose by 20% and to date

have yet to return to their original prices.

Hunger and poverty thus worsened in the already second poorest region in the country.

3. What was the Aquino government's response?

Noynoy Aquino responded with criminal neglect.

The Aquino government and its agencies showed themselves as indolent, deficient,

incapable, inutile and neglectful even before the storm. This led to the high numbers in

dead, wounded and missing until now.

In the critical period after the storm, the Aquino government deployed first the soldiers of

the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). But it did not, as it should have, ensure all forms

of transportation and routes for help and emergency aid to those who had survived thestorm, as well as set up temporary clinics and similar structures to promptly distribute food,

water, medicine, temporary shelter and other basic necessities for search and rescue. The

military was deployed and a state of emergency declared in Tacloban to put down the

people in the face of their desperation for food, water, medicine and other urgent aid. The

Aquino clique and the Romualdez dynasty in Leyte also squabbled because of their old

political enmity, while the storm survivors were thirsty, hungry and stumbling in the dark, and

the decomposing bodies of the dead lay scattered.

The Aquino government turned away from its responsibility to the people and passed it to

the private sector, and in the main served only to facilitate the help of others. Furthermore,

many forms of aid the government ostensibly received never reached the storm survivors.Worse, even though Congress had allocated 100 billion assistance, it has been exposed

only 3 billion has been used for the Yolanda survivors.

The Aquino government's heedlessness and criminal neglect of the people are glaring. In

the 100th day after typhoon Yolanda, it is estimated that only 11 kilos of rice had been

given per family. The much-ballyhooed cash for work program had reached only 1.6% of

affected families, and gave a mere 250 per day for 10 days. Meanwhile, the so-called


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bunkhouses meant as temporary shelters accommodated a scanty 0.17% of homeless

families.

3.1 What is the Aquino government's rehabilitation program?

A month after the storm, the Aquino government came out with the ReconstructionAssistance for Yolanda (RAY), popularly known as Build Back Better. It is fundamentally

flawed and does not serve the interests of the storm survivors. Despite the enormous

damage to agriculture, much of the reconstruction goes to infrastructure, such as repairs of

roads and bridges, flood control and construction of government buildings projects that

are contracted and regarded as cash cows of corruption. The calamity was also used to

railroad programs the people have long resisted conditional cash transfer (such as 4Ps),

privatization of state institutions and services like the Public-Private Partnership scheme, and

microfinancing or agricultural lending.

The Build Back Better model is designed on previous rehabilitation and reconstruction

programs known as reliant on foreign debt, corruption-ridden and largely unsuccessful,

and were implemented in other countries stricken by recent calamities such as in the

Pakistan earthquake, Hurricane Katrina in the US, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar and the

earthquake in Haiti.

In fact, the RAY or Build Back Better is an anti-people, pro-big business and pro-foreign

rehabilitation program.

The entire recovery and reconstruction program worth 360.89 billion counts on the private

sector. This is nothing more than giving up the government's responsibility to the people,

and selling out the rehabilitation to the big foreign and local businesses.

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What is the no-build zone policy?

The no-build zone policy is a component of RAY and forbids residents who live 40 meters

from the shoreline from reconstructing their houses. It is arbitrary and flagrantly seeks to

drive out and violate the rights of the residents to their homes and livelihood. The safety

of the residents is used to excuse the plan to set up businesses in areas where the residents'

families died. Even before typhoon Yolanda, there was already an economic plan for the

affected areas based on the Eastern Visayas Regional Development Plan 2011-2016, that

mainly pushed ecotourism, agribusiness and the potential for information and

communication technology (like call centers) in the region, driven mainly by big business

and foreign investments. The plan would have caused widespread demolitionswhich the

Aquino government is now driving at by making use of the aftermath of typhoon Yolanda.

The people are fighting for their rights to housing and livelihood such as occupying the no-

build-zone-declared places. They continue their struggle after the Aquino government

then pushed the no-dwelling zone policy, which clearly legitimizes the setting up of

businesses rather than houses in the said areas.


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3.3 What is the situation of those who lost their houses?

Those who lost their houses were crammed into schools, public buildings and tent cities

(communities of temporary shelters) that serve as evacuation centers. The victims languish

in inhuman conditions inside the tent city crowded, unsanitary, hot, cold and rain. They

are often vulnerable to illness, fire and other disasters. These grim conditions were broughtto the fore in a tragedy last May 28, 2014, more than half a year after typhoon Yolanda,

when Maria Elisa Ocenar and her six small children were killed in a fire at their shelter in a

tent city.

The much-hyped bunkhouses were also inadequate for the urgent need for temporary

shelters in Tacloban, Palo and Ormoc in Leyte; Basey and Marabut in Samar; and Guiuan,

Hernani and Borongan in Eastern Samar. A bunkhouse is made up of a row of 24 units

joined together and measuring 8.64 square meters per unit. A single family of five members

are crammed into this extremely small unit. It is made of coco lumber and a galvanized

iron roof prone to dripping even though newly constructed. The toilets, washing area and

kitchen in each bunkhouse are common, often shoddily constructed; eight toilets are

simply not enough for 250 people.

In the 100thday after Yolanda last February 17, only 1,455 families had been relocated to

60 bunkhouses, or equivalent to 0.16% of the 918,261 families nationwide who lost their

homes because of the storm, and only 0.52% of the 280,968 families in EV. Aside from being

too few for the number of affected families, construction was sluggish and beset with

corruption and anomalies. According to one report, some politicians received 30% to 35%

commissions from the contractors. And the contractors themselves used inferior materials

to make bigger profits.

Just in the tent city, conditions in the bunkhouses were likewise miserable, far from

workplaces or else with no livelihood in the places where these were set up. This is nodifferent from the appalling experiences in the relocation of the urban poor. Thus it is not

surprising some families refuse to move in or else prefer to move out later because of the

inhuman conditions in the bunkhouses. The Aquino government is also planning to turn

bunkhouses into permanent residences. In half a year, a genuine housing plan after the

storm has yet to be seen. The Aquino government is barefaced in its inutility, criminal

neglect and continued trampling on the rights of the people to decent housing, work and

livelihood.


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4. Who really benefits from the Aquino government's reconstruction program?

Big businesses close to the Aquino government are carving up its reconstruction program,

as illustrated by the following:

5.

What was the people's response to the Aquino government's neglect?

Progressive organizations led the way in facing the Yolanda issue and demanding the

accountability of the Aquino government. These organizations include Bayanihan Alay sa

Sambayanan (BALSA)-National, -Mindanao and -NCR, Tulong Kabataan, Tindog-NCR,

Samahang Operasyong Sagip (SOS), Makabayan bloc, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan

(BAYAN) and its member and allied organizations in and out of the country, Leyte Center

for Development (LCDE), Tabang-Sinirangan Bisayas, and many more. They immediately

responded with relief work and questioned the Aquino government over donations it

received but were nowhere to be found.

The alternative media also helped greatly, such as TUDLA Productions, Kodao Productions,

Pinoy Media Center, Bulatlat, Pinoy Weekly and IBON, in exposing the real conditions of the

storm survivors.

Two months after the storm, the survivors had still not received any significant aid. If there

were any at all, these consisted of two kilos of rice, a can of sardines and a pack of

noodles. The people of EV could no longer bear this neglect, thus the victims decided to

unite so that their voice may be heard. In barely 15 days of preparation, two activities were

launched in Tacloban City, Leyte. One was a night of remembrance on January 24, for


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those who had died as well as those who had lost their livelihood. The next day, January

25, about 13,700 Yolanda survivors from the different provinces of EV thronged the streets

of Tacloban in protest against the inutility and neglect of the Aquino government. Some

2,000 more rallyists lacked transportation to the protest venue, or were blocked by police

and soldiers.

This mobilization put forward the issues, demands and calls of the typhoon Yolanda

survivors and victims of the Aquino government's criminal neglect. They asserted justice not

only for the thousands who had died, but their rights to food, livelihood, housing and social

services as well. The grave neglect, corruption, politicking and inutility of the government

were laid bare here and abroad. The anti-people, pro-foreign, pro-big business and debt-

driven rehabilitation of the Aquino government was exposed as adding to the miseries of

the storm survivors.

The broad alliance of People Surge was set up for the survivors and their supporters. The

People Surge is made up of the united strength of individual volunteers who hail from the

peasants, workers, urban poor, youth and students, church, professionals, government

employees and small business. The People Surge alliance is the expression of the power ofthe people, who demand answers and advance the just struggle against the criminal,

corrupt and callous Aquino government. In the Waray language, surge of the people

translates as duluk han katawhan.

After the big mass action in Tacloban, over 20 mass leaders from People Surge went to the

National Capital Region (NCR) and stayed from February to April to shake up the Aquino

government and call the people's attention to the appalling state of the Yolanda survivors.

Meanwhile, the mass actions in the region continued. There were all in all 82 mass actions,

of which 23 were in the NCR, nine in the regional center, 16 in various municipalities, one

provincial and others. The mobilizations showed the militant and coordinated struggles,

large and small. Aside from their own activities, the survivors also joined 30 picket-rallies inthe NCR that helped progressive organizations in campaigning on various people's issues.

The People Surge gained wide support as an authority and a legitimate voice of the

Yolanda survivors who were victims of the Aquino government. Forums, public speeches,

testimonies and other gathering were launched in schools, churches and communities. A

series of forums was also launched among the sectoral organizations of workers, peasants,

women, youth and students, church people, government employees, teachers and others.

The People Surge was also interviewed by newspapers and on radio and television.

To sum up, the People Surge recruited about 850 members in two months of stirring up in

the NCR, launched 200 forums with an estimated audience of 10,000, and testimonies inchurches with 106,000 listeners. No less than 200,000 were reached via mass propaganda

such as with readings like open letters, pamphlets and others. If mass media reach is

included, it is estimated millions of the people were reached in the Yolanda propaganda

through various forms of propaganda.

Forty-three new chapters were also set up in this campaign with over 3,000 members.

Chapters were set up from village to municipal levels. Chapters of People Surge were also

set up in other regions of the Philippines such as in the NCR and in Panay.


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6. What are the victories of the Yolanda survivors and the people in their

struggle for justice?

If the continuing criminal neglect and inutility of the Aquino government were exposed in

the first part of the campaign (the big rally in Tacloban), it was further put on the defensive

in the second part of the campaign in agitating at the NCR.

The Gang of Five who were the leading officials who had to answer to the people were

put to shame Aquino and his bureaucrats Yolanda Reconstruction Sec. Panfilo Lacson,

Interior Sec. Mar Roxas, Social Welfare Sec. Dinky Soliman and Energy Sec. Jericho Petilla.

They were forced to admit their shortcomings and criminal neglect. The survivors were not

the only ones to rap the Gang of Five, but also other sectors of society including other

government officials. They slammed each other over their bunglings, passed the buck, tore

each others' reputations and washed their hands off over their accountability. Even the

Senate had an investigation over rotting and worm-ridden relief.

Of the People Surge's three tactical demands, the public learned of the call for 40,000 aslegitimate aid to each family to live decently for two months. Meanwhile, the no-build

zone policy was withdrawn. Relief work also went from having been slated to end in

December, to extension till March, and lengthened once after a dialogue with Sec.

Soliman. In truth, since March, the DSWD had been forced to give 25 kilos of rice per family

every two weeks, or to one million survivors in all. This definitely benefitted the people

because of the campaign. Even the Department of Agriculture began giving seed stocks

as agricultural aid.

These victories came about because of the people's struggle. The local mass struggles at

the municipal level also gained immediate benefits. Aside from exposing the uselessness

and criminal neglect of the Aquino government, the people were able to assert their rights.

A good example is shown by the rallies in Calbiga and Pinabacdao last April 25, where 640

attended in Pinabacadao and more than 1,000 in Calbiga. They staged another mass

action from June 8 to 10 wherein a vigil was held at the DSWD-8 in Tacloban, this time,

accompanied by the municipal mayors of the two towns. They succeeded in pushing for

their demands and were finally recognized as calamity-stricken. The people overcame

their fear and hopelessness, and found the voice and strength to struggle for their rights.

The People Surge also led the production campaign in the barrios within its scope. It

campaigned for collective farming of quick-growing crops to sell and for consumption,

and long-term crops to sustain and develop production. This campaign was joined by

peasants in 55 towns to surmount the hunger and loss of livelihood after Yolanda. It also

faced the problem of relief and rehabilitation in a systematic, organized and plannedmanner. The People Surge promptly studied and assessed the situation after typhoon

Yolanda, thus it was able to base its program for relief and rehabilitation according to what

was really needed.

The political and economic gains of the masses came as a result of the people's struggle

and certainly not because of mercy from the government. Alliance work was done in two

parts: political, for the campaign, and economic, to garner financial and material support,


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Join the national movement such as the mobilization on the July 2014 in the occasion of

the State of the Nation Address.

Education work and training

Enthusiastically carry out education work and training among the ranks of the

membership and the people.

Carry out trainings such as disaster preparedness, risk reduction, first aid, increased

agricultural production, intercropping and others.

Organizing

Organize, organize. Continue the spreading of chapters and membership expansion.

Join People Surge and invite others to join.

Alliance work

Take advantage of the coming elections to highlight and assert the real issues of thepeople.

Garner support for relief and rehabilitation for the survivors from friendly sectors.

Join hands with other calamity survivors and victims of criminal neglect by the

government. Exert efforts to gain the support of the broad masses of the people who

have long been oppressed by the government.

International work

Bring the struggle outside the country and strive for international media attention. These

aim to have international pressure bear on the Aquino government and demand

accountability for the support and donations from abroad that have yet to benefit thepeople.

Intensify the struggle and abhorrence of the people over Aquino's opportunism in using

the Yolanda issue to seek donations. ###

Yolanda Campaign Primer

Documents

Transcript of Yolanda Campaign Primer