We have been calling for the filing of cases against these contractors and their cohorts in NHA since day one.

Retribution coming A group of bikers launch a campaign to give justice to victims of typhoon “Yolanda,” or international name “Haiyan,” as the catastrophe’s sixth anniversary on 3 November closes in. The government recently filed cases against former government officials involved in the anomalous housing projects which were found to have used substandard materials. AFP

Tacloban City — “Yolanda” victims and advocates of humane housing for families displaced by the super typhoon said it was only during the current administration that their cries were addressed as they welcome the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission’s (PACC) recent filing of cases against contractors and officials of the National Housing Authority (NHA).

The PACC on 9 October recommended the filing of criminal and administrative charges before the Office of the Ombudsman against 12 former and incumbent NHA officials in relation to anomalies in the Yolanda Permanent Housing Program (YPHP) in Eastern Samar in 2013.

“We have been calling for the filing of cases against these contractors and their cohorts in NHA since day one,” says Fara Diva Gamalo, a leader of the Coalition of Yolanda Survivors and Partners (CYSP), a group of 10 non-government organizations and 163 community organizations.

“We commend the PACC for siding with the truth,” she said. “But we are challenging them to not just focus on Eastern Samar but in the whole ‘Yolanda’ corridor,” she added.

Gamalo said the filing of a complaint before the Ombudsman “is a validation of what we have exposed and pushed despite the insensitivity and indifference of public officials local and national.”

PACC chairman Dante Jimenez told newsmen in Tacloban City that those facing graft and violation of the Government Procurement Reform Act and Code of Conduct for Public Officials and Employees are NHA general manager Sinforo Pagunsan, assistant general manager and bids and awards committee (BAC) 1 chairman Froilan Kampitan, BAC 1 vice chairman Ma. Alma Valenciano, BAC 2 chairman Victor Balba, BAC 2 vice chairman Felicisimo Lazarte Jr. and NHA project implementing team head Lorna Seraspe.

Also recommended charged were BAC members Susana Nonato, Eleanor Balatbat, Romuel Alimboyao and Ma. Magdalena Siacon, as well as supervising engineer and technical working group members Alvin Rey Calbario and Grace Guevarra.

In a media conference on Friday, Jimenez said the complaint at the Ombudsman is based on reports of the Commission on Audit (CoA), the investigation proceedings of the committee of the House of Representatives in 2017 and investigation reports of then Assistant Secretary Wendel Avisado of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.

“This is just the tip of the iceberg and more housing project anomalies will be uncovered,” Jimenez said. “We may need the cooperation of those affected parties to file these complaints to the PACC.”

Jimenez said the PACC is visiting Eastern Visayas again to report to the people in the region their findings and recommendations of the investigation they made in 12 April this year. During that visit, he said he will resign from his post if he fails to deliver results within six months.

“Today, we have returned and made good on that promise to report to the people of Tacloban and those victims of Typhoon ‘Yolanda’ and the promise of government to make accountable those who failed to provide the housing needs of the victims of this massive disaster,” Jimenez told media.

PACC investigation revealed that in the case of Eastern Samar alone, contracts for the construction of 2,559 units in four municipalities were bagged by a sole contractor, J.C. Tayag Builders Inc. (JCTBI), with a contract cost of P741.53 million.

But after more than two years since the corresponding notices to proceed were awarded, the contractor was only able to finish 36 houses or 1.41 percent by the time contracts were terminated in 27 November 2017.

“This means that JCBTI had failed to perform its obligations in the contract, despite receiving at least P207.2 million in total payment for the Yolanda Permanent Housing Project,” Jimenez said.

Jimenez said PACC will continue to receive complaints from the people regarding the implementation of YPHP not only in Eastern Visayas but in other regions as well.

He added the agency is drafting a template that could help pin down other officials in the government that are involved in housing anomalies. “We will not stop until we identify the masterminds in the ‘Yolanda’ housing scandal,” he added.

The CoA earlier said only 58 percent or 117,167 of the targeted 203,471 permanent housing units had been completed.