When danger zones become danger homes

We are pleading to President Rodrigo Duterte to have these houses checked by competent engineers.

Substandard? Fears have been raised over the safety of housing units given to victim beneficiaries. E.Requerdo

LAWAAN, Eastern Samar — The recent series of earthquakes that rocked North Cotabato and caused heavy damage to houses and infrastructures is adding fears to beneficiaries of government housing projects being built for “Yolanda” survivors.

And as the 6th anniversary of the super typhoon nears on 8 November, residents of coastal communities s till living in the so-called “danger zones” are once again being reminded to transfer to housing units already completed by the National Housing Authority (NHA).

Construction of housing units are still ongoing at this time with a few units completed but the supposed beneficiaries are reluctant to grab them even if the houses are given for free with the beneficiary only paying for the lot over a period of 20 years.

The identified beneficiaries of housing units are urging the government to seriously look into the ongoing construction and check the structural integrity of the units so that corrective measures can be done while these are still being constructed.

“We are pleading to President Rodrigo Duterte to have these houses checked by competent engineers because once these are awarded to beneficiaries we don’t know who to turn to if something happens to our families as a result of weak structures,” said Lita Bagunas, president of Uswag Este, an alliance of over 80 community-based associations of housing beneficiaries in seven towns of Eastern Samar.

“We do not want to transfer from these so-called “danger zones” to dangerous homes. Here we are only in danger when there are typhoons which we can avoid by staying in evacuation centers, but in those houses, every minute that we stay inside the house, our lives will always be in danger,” she said.

She said many of their members in the grassroots who saw how the houses were built have raised red flag not only on the poor quality of materials that are being used but as well as the manner on how the houses are constructed.

Bagunas added that some of their members have even asked the construction workers on why their houses are built in a peculiar manner that looks unstable but were only told that it was the design given to them by the contractor.

“Look at what happened to those houses in Mindanao. They are built of better design and quality of materials but those were still destroyed. How much more of the houses here?” says Bagunas.

Aside from the structure itself, Bagunas also lamented the choice of the relocation site which are not only far from the source of livelihood of the beneficiaries but are also far from populated communities thus putting children at risk when they walk to school.

In this town, the National Housing Authority relocation site, called North Peak Estate, is located in sitio Can-Amo in Barangay San Isidro, some four kilometers from the highway going uphill on a rough road. In this site, NHA is building 949 houses for all beneficiaries of coastal town of Lawaan.

Gina Yutila, a 51-year old grandmother from Brgy. Guinob-an, is among the more 60 qualified housing beneficiaries from her village, two have transferred to the relocation site. Brgy. Guinob-an, where her grandchildren goes to school, is seven kilometers away from the relocation site.

She said that transportation alone in going to school for each of her grandchild would already cost P80 a day. To cut the cost, the children may take a 4 kms walk from the relocation site to the highway passing through a long unpopulated area with thick cogon grass on the sides.