Where is the money?: Marcos on Yolanda

  

By Larry Madarang

BAGUIO CITY—“Where is the money?,” Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. blurted out during his visit here Nov. 20, referring funds allocated for  rehabilitation of areas stricken by typhoon Yolanda in 2013.

 “This government does not feel the need to explain themselves in any way, never mind the tens of thousands still in makeshift homes, never mind that people have no jobs, never mind if people have no lives, if they don't want to answer you, they won’t,” Marcos said.

 They just give us this very general statement and up to now we haven't gotten a detailed explanation as to why the rehabilitation plan has not yet been implemented, the housing has not been done, he added.

 “The national government has done so little to return the victims to their normal lives”, Marcos stressed.

 “Yolanda hit us November 8, 2013, we (the House of Senate) was on the budget process, so immediately we were able to approve the release the amount of P180 billion, P120 billion on the calamity fund of the national government and an additional P60 billion specific for Yolanda, until now, we don't know where the money went” he said.

“We all know that billions of donations were also received by the government, until now, they could not tell us where the money went.”

According to a government official, they have now downloaded around P7 billion, my challenge is, come over to the calamity stricken areas and show us where the P7 billion went, he said.

“In Tacloban itself, we could not find an area that was improved with the funds amounting to even just P100 million.” 

Where is the money? We even receive reports that relief goods are now stale, we have reports that medicines have expired, why is this happening? he asked, demanding for an answer.

 “Never mind politics they must tell us, how much has been done, what we still need to do, what is the available fund. By own admissions of this government, 250,000 housing units are needed. But only 17,000 have been built, and these 17,000 homes have no water supply, no plumbing, no electricity, how could we convince the victims to occupy these homes when they lack the basic necessities. 

“How could you tell them to go to their new homes when they have no means of livelihood there, no schools adjacent to the relocation site, no churches no markets, no water, no electricity, and that is the extent of the government’s help.But again, politics is happening, what is hanging in the balance are the lives of thousands and thousands of people, Marcos said.