While much of the national attention has been focused on Tacloban, communities in other provinces were also affected by Typhoon Yolanda and are still struggling to get their hands on adequate and nutritious food and basic public goods such as water-systems, roads, energy and communication. These concerns, coupled with the need to “build-back better,” place an additional challenge to them in terms of satisfying immediate needs while preparing for the future.
As part of the 2-week summer youth writing camp of Caucus of Development NGO Networks (CODE-NGO), I was deployed to Coron, Palawan in order to research about the rehabilitation process in Barangay Marcilla, a coastal community that is also home to the Tagbanwa indigenous group. Here, I genuinely witnessed the daily routines of the residents starting from their early morning coffee conversations until their late night activities such as videoke.
In Marcilla, there is no existing water and sewerage system. Residents solely rely on a single faucet that gives them clean water for drinking and on a water well for other domestic uses, which by the way has been reportedly causing occasional skin rashes. To put it simply, water is very limited and may be unsafe. Therefore, it is also almost impossible for them to plant additional vegetables and fruits that will give them supplementary income and food. More importantly, limited water supply also implies the impossibility of establishing a community-based sewerage system which is necessary to maintain good sanitary conditions.
My personal journey in Marcilla is a testament to these predicaments. I myself saw the almost unstoppable water collection or “igib” of my own host family and of other residents in the area. Even young children at the age of 13 years old are compelled to collect water and bring it to their houses situated on a very steep hill.
In addition, the road toward Marcilla is very bad. It has no concrete pavement except for some small sections. Thus, one major problem for the residents is that of trade and commerce. Supplies do not easily reach them from the center. Similarly, transporting their own fish catch and seaweeds is also hindered by the one and a half hour travel time to the public market.
Power and communication is also a major problem in the barangay. Electricity supply is constantly in an on-and-off setting because of the reconstruction of major power lines in the area. Likewise, major telecommunication networks are also in the process of rebuilding their respective cell sites in the area. When I was there, I had a hard time getting a cell phone signal. Currently, only one network has a coverage in Marcilla.
Overall, my experience in Marcilla matters to me as it opened my eyes to the neglected realities of the countryside; that is, less food, water, and entertainment. I have realized that more than just going back to “business-as-usual”, people need to be in a better state to what they were in before Yolanda.
The Emergency Shelter Assistance program of the Philippine Support Service Agencies (PHILSSA) in partnership with Christian Aid and Palawan Advocates for Good Governance and Empowerment have been mobilized in order to help the residents rebuild their houses according to their own choosing. PHILSSA provided PHP 5,000 worth of consumable funds for materials purchase. A local cooperative for seaweed farmers was also established to jump-start local livelihood in Marcilla. Nonetheless, problems on aid distribution were also evident. Some Tagbanua residents reported that some individuals where allegedly using them as tools to channel aid to other areas. Hence, politics played a role.
The rehabilitation that must take place should be targeted at not only what is immediate but also long term. Issues of power must be considered because aid could potentially be a source of conflict in a community. Most importantly, the voices of the marginalized need to be properly represented in consultations prior to aid distribution. This means that non-government organizations need to be cognizant of the existing conflicts between individuals, families and local leaders before automatically recognizing stakeholder representatives.
To all of us, the case of Marcilla matters because Typhoon Yolanda may only be the first of the many future weather-related disasters that we will encounter. This reality that climate change presents to us may sound pessimistic to some. However, we need to consider the prevailing socio-economic and poverty-related issues even before a disaster strikes. Things such as the source of income of residents, their location, governance issues, food, water, shelter, among others need to be looked at.
To put it simply, rehabilitation should also be informed by the pre-existing development realities pertaining to food, livelihoods, transportation, energy and livelihoods in the country side.
For now, we all need to be continuously vigilant about the current rehabilitation processes that take place not only in Tacloban but also in other areas of the country. The utilization of aid, extent of community, civil society, and private sector participation, and the very substance of rehabilitation programs and projects are only among the many things that we need to focus on.
We should move beyond Tacloban. We should move “beyond before.”
Karl Patrick Mendoza is an MA Political Science student at De La Salle University. He is also an NSTP Facilitator from the same university. Apart from research, Karl is interested in joining volunteering projects most especially those that tackle disaster risk reduction, governance and development issues.