Shelter elusive for some Yolanda evacuees in NCR

Driven out of their hometowns by Typhoon Yolanda, scores of grief-stricken survivors brought to Metro Manila are finding themselves with no place to stay.

From Villamor Airbase in Pasay City, families who fled the devastation in their hometowns in the Visayas were transferred Thursday to Camp Aguinaldo, main headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

But AFP spokesman Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said the typhoon victims could not stay in the camp for long.

“Hindi sila pwedeng tumira dito. This is a military camp,” he said, adding the affected families were only brought to Camp Aguinaldo because “we're just decongesting the airbase.”

A report on GMA News' “24 Oras” said 9,000 typhoon survivors have been brought to Metro Manila, and 80 percent of them have relatives where they can seek temporary shelter.

Many of the survivors have already been brought to their relatives in Metro Manila. Those with neither friends nor family will be brought to a temporary evacuation center, according to Jane Casimiro, information officer of the Department of Social Welfare and Development in the National Capital Region.

Contacted by phone, Casimiro said the survivors may be brought back to the “tent city” at the Villamor Airbase or to the Jose Fabella Center in Mandaluyong City.

She, however, believes this will affect only a few survivors as most of those who were brought to Metro Manila will stay with relatives and friends.

Processing

Meanwhile, Zagala said the survivors will be taken to the Joint Task Force National Capital Region Command beside the camp's gate 6, making it easier for survivors and volunteers to gain access to the headquarters.

Upon arriving at Camp Aguinaldo, the survivors will undergo processing in the NCR Command to be led by the DSWD, said Director Honorato delos Reyes of the Office of Civil Defense.

The processing, Delos Reyes said, would be for the accounting of families.

“This is simply a processing area of those who are coming from Tacloban and determine and register those internally displaced persons so that the DSWD will have a record,” he said.

Delos Reyes said the survivors would be brought to Camp Aguinaldo through 10 buses and would be assisted by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.

Volunteers

Casimiro said volunteers would need to contact them first before going to Camp Aguinaldo.

“Kailangan kasi i-plot muna ang schedule para hindi magkagulo,” she said. “They may call or text Virgie Daniley at 0915-779-4486.”

She reminded volunteers to bring a valid identification card to be allowed to enter the military camp.

Earlier, according to Mark Salazar's report on GMA News TV's “News TV Live,” volunteers at the Villamor Air Base were confused over the transition as no one was supposedly coordinating with them.

The report noted that relief operations at the air base have been lessened as people were confused if they should pack up or stay to help the survivors arriving in the area.

However, Col. Miguel Ernesto Okol, Philippine Air Force spokesperson, said the confusion lies with the volunteers. “We are quite clear on the services that we provide to those going down the aircraft. Tuloy-tuloy pa po natin ito until such time na ready na ready na,” he said.

Kicked out?

In a statement posted on his Facebook account Wednesday, James Deakin, one of the volunteers, said they felt like they were “kicked out” of Villamor Air Base.

“As of 12 p.m. tomorrow, we are being kicked out of Villamor. Yes, all of us. We’re being shut down. Not just Oplan Hatid, but the entire relief effort, I’m told,” he said. “What they plan for them there, I do not know. Nobody does. All I know is that they don’t need our help. The government, that is, not the survivors.”

Okol, however, denied that the volunteers were being summarily removed from the Villamor Air Base.

Message to volunteers

In Malacañang, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) head Herminio Coloma Jr. appealed for “understanding” from volunteers who seem to be having problems at the Villamor Airbase.

“Sana po ay maunawaan ng ating mga kababayan na maaari pong magkaroon ng ganitong mga hidwaan at hindi pagkakaunawaan. Ganunpaman, hinihingi po namin ang kanilang pag-unawa,” he said at a press briefing.

“Wala naman pong pagnanais na sila ay i-pwera. Ang gusto po natin dito ang isang inclusive effort dahil mahalaga po ang ambag ng bawat isa. Kaya kung meron pong naligalig o nagkaroon ng sakit sa kalooban, humihingi po kami ng paumanhin sa kanila,” Coloma added.

Coloma said the typhoon survivors were transferred to Camp Aquinaldo because the camp is nearer to bus terminals at the Araneta Center, which can be used by the displaced victims to go to where their relatives are. — KBK, GMA News