Protesters call for homes, jobs for survivors on Yolanda anniversary

Hundreds of activists, farmers and fishermen protested in Tacloban City on Saturday (November 8) calling on the government to provide more homes and jobs, a year after Typhoon Haiyan smashed into the country.

Protesters burned a nine-foot tall effigy of President Benigno Aquino and accused his administration of diverting aid and reconstruction funds.

"Our call is justice for the criminal negligence of our president and the government, and we want him to step down," said Efleda Bautista, chairperson of People Surge, a group of Haiyan survivors.

In Manila, dozens of Climate Change activists marched near the Presidential Palace and lit candles in solidarity with the typhoon victims.

Activists blamed the devastation on climate change and urged the Aquino government to press the issue at an international level.

"Climate change is here to stay with us and climate change is here to kill us unless we do something to cut down on the greenhouse gas emission polluting the atmosphere, thus causing global warming and climate change," said Rasti Delizo, spokesperson of Sanlakas, which is a nationalist group which advocates human rights, social welfare and the protection of the environment.

Typhoon Haiyan damaged, and in some cases wiped out, practically everything in its path as it swept ashore on November 8, 2013, with seven-metre storm surges destroying around 90 percent of the city of Tacloban in Leyte province.

More than 14.5 million people were affected by the storm in six regions and 44 provinces.

The government estimates it needs almost 170 billion pesos (3.8 billion USD) to rebuild the affected communities, including the construction of a four-metre high dike along the 27-km coastline to prevent a repeat of the disaster.

The Philippines, which sees an average of 20 typhoons a year, is planning to build typhoon-resilient structures and to relocate residents living in danger zones to areas considered safer based on studies by local and international organisations.

President Benigno Aquino, in a visit to nearby Samar island on Friday, unveiled a plan to relocate Tacloban airport away from the coastline and to build more than 205,000 permanent homes to resettle displaced families. — Reuters