Lingap Gabriela Children of the Storm task force/Report about the support of Yolanda storm victims

On November 5, 2014, officers of GABRIELA and Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concern turned over Lingap Gabriela and the Task Force Children of the Storm rehabilitation support project to farmers of Carigara Town, Leyte. Joms Salvador, secretary general of GABRIELA and VicVic Calvo of Salinlahi signed in behalf of their organizations and officers of Municipal Farmers’ Association of Carigara and GABRIELA Carigara signed the Memorandum of Agreement. The funds were collected by Lingap Gabriela and Children of the Storm from VDay Foundation, German-Filipino Friendship Association, International Rescue Committee, ARCI, West Flanders government, 11/11/11, and from individuals and community organizations through its chapters in US, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The turn-over ceremony was done during the Women’s International Solidarity Mission.

Based on consultations with the farmers of Brgys. Upper Hiraan, Cutay, Kandigahon ,Kamansi, Libo, Caghalo and Barayong, they are planning to use funds from the project to rehabilitate their farms which were damaged by the Typhoon. They are planning to put up a farmers’ cooperative which will provide extra income for the organization and will be a source of cheaper basic household needs for the people.

According to the discussions with local members of GABRIELA all of the barangays got scarce support from the government. The only help which they were able to receive was from local and international NGOs.

They also expressed their dismay at not being able to receive help from other organizations because they were not a member or they already had a benefactor.  Like in the previous barangays, they complained about the criteria for beneficiaries. They said that since all of them were affected by Yolanda, though in varying degrees, they were all victims and thus should all receive the same relief and rehab support.

There were also reports that relief goods that they received were not enough for their families because each pack was only composed of noodles, coffee, canned goods and a kilo of rice which was only good for a day or two.  They were also dismayed that they waited in long lines just to get the goods which were not even properly packed and were often rotten and already expired.

They also reported that the barangay officials were in charge of the distribution of the relief and were not doing their jobs. In fact, they said, the goods were just stored in the barangay hall and each time that these are transported to their areas, they were even asked payment for the transportation amounting from P3 to P5 each.  In one case, a resident paid P100 for the transportation of a relief pack which was worth less than the goods itself.

Regarding the social services in the area, the residents said that the schools remained unfinished even as classes already resumed. They added that there was no health center in tc

Lingap Gabriela also has ongoing projects for livelihood rehabilitation Roxas City, Aklan, and Iloilo while local GABRIELA chapters in Cebu have their own rehabilitation programs. GABRIELA collected financial and material supports which were distributed to local communities greatly affected by the Typhoon Haiyan but were neglected by the government and big NGOs. Since the typhoon, GABRIELA and member its affiliate organizations and local chapters also conducted several relief, medical and psycho-social missions.