Over one month after typhoon Odette’s devastation, Dinagat Island, one of the worst-hit provinces, is still in crisis just like the very first day the tropical storm made its land fall last year.
In a privilege speech, Dinagat Lone District Rep. Alan 1 B. Ecleo said this is because of the ‘anemic’ response of a number of government agencies to their requests for immediate aid to the province.
“To this day many are still in the process of either tearing their households down to find anything salvageable and looking amongst the rubble to build anything which would approximate shelter,” he disclosed.
Ecleo said the Department of Social Welfare and Development has disclosed that 37,033 Dinagat families were affected while 16,336 homes have been totally destroyed by the typhoon.
“Over 9,345 coconut farmers depend on coconut yields in the province, all of whom now have no source of income as the typhoon uprooted their source of livelihood,” he disclosed.
On the other hand, the Department of Education reported that 85 percent of the classrooms were totally damage, with 345 rooms require replacement while 107 need repairs.
According to Ecleo the Department of Health has revealed that damage to health infrastructure reached at least P124 million while P2.5 billion in public infrastructure were destroyed, the Department of Public Works and Highways said.
“As much as we honor and recognize the help that poured over Dinagat Islands in the days which followed the devastation of Odette, I cannot help but echo the cry of my fellow Dinagatnons as they felt first hand how many of our local offices have faltered in the face of Odette,” he stated.
A member of the House committee on Disaster Resilience, Ecleo said lesson from typhoon “Yolanda” appeared to have been lost to agencies.
He cited as an example the DSWD's prepositioning of food packs in warehouses and stations located “in the path of the storm.”
“It is a shameful, arrogant miscalculation that has led to wasted resources and delayed relief to our constituents,” the administration solon said.
He recalled immediately asking help in funding and materials from various agencies like the Philippine Coconut Authority; Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resourcers; Department of Energy and National Disaster Response and Resources Management council; Department of Science and Techology; Technical Education and Skills Devellopment Authorityh; National Telecommunications Commission and the DOH.
“Unfortunately, it would seem that the urgency of the situation is lost on many of our departments and agencies,” he said.
Ecleo told his colleagues that he had filed a resolution appealing for funds that are necessary to “avert homelessness, outbreak of contagious diseases, lack of education and possible failure of elections due to the destruction o fne of necessary infrastructure.” “Without these, we will be seeing a chain of catastrophes that would compromise the health, education and survival of Dinagat Islands.”