Flood inundates Yolanda housing village

PALO, Leyte — The sun shone brightly on Monday after two days of incessant rain over the weekend, but residents of Ver Dominic Heights Subdivision here were still unable to begin cleaning up as floodwaters remained.

“Like in the past, we have to wait for days until the flood subsides, sometimes for over a week. For the meantime, we can only pray that it will no longer rain,” said Bong, a 23-year-old pedicab driver.

Ver Dominic Heights Subdivision is a permanent relocation site built by the National Housing Authority (NHA) for 500 families whose homes were destroyed by Super Typhoon Yolanda in November 2013.

Housing beneficiaries began occupying their units in 2020, even before the NHA formally turned over management of the project to the local government unit. The housing site was officially transferred to the municipal government of Palo in March 2022.

Since residents moved into the subdivision, flooding has been a persistent problem. The area lacks a direct supply of potable water and is flood-prone, as it was previously a swamp before being developed into a housing site.

During flooding, murky water enters the houses — an occurrence that residents say happens two to three times a year and has become an anticipated hardship they have learned to endure.

Large water containers can be seen outside each housing unit, used to collect rainwater. When there is no rain, residents rely on deep-well pumps for their daily water needs.

“When there is no rain, we pray for rain. But when it rains, we pray that it will not be long because, for sure, there will be flood,” Bong said.

Water collected from rainfall or pumped from wells is used for cleaning toilets, washing clothes and dishes, and other household needs, but not for drinking or cooking.

For potable water, residents buy from a nearby village at P5 per water jug, or P10 if delivered by a pedicab driver — a service that also supplements the drivers’ daily income.

Since the housing project was turned over to the municipal government, residents have repeatedly urged the local government unit to address the flooding and the lack of potable water in the community.