Helping Yolanda-displaced indigenous people

By JAZMIN BONIFACIO
July 23, 2014

ISABEL, Leyte – The National Commission on Indigenous People (NCIP) held consultations with Bajao community in Isabel, Leyte on post-Yolanda reconstruction and relocation plans.

It was learned that eight months after typhoon Yolanda struck Leyte, they are still struggling as they try to rebuild their lives, have marked with continuous displacement and rampant poverty.

To recall, Bajao people came to settle along a coastline of private land in Sitio Pasil, Barangay Marbel in Isabel, Leyte after they escaped the conflict and harsh living conditions in Mindanao in 1990’s. Their sources of income in Isabel are fishing and selling used clothes in the town’s market.

The Bajao people are the most disadvantaged indigenous groups, with high illiteracy and unemployment rates and low income. Traditionally, have been sea dwellers, living on narrow boats and visiting dry land only to trade fish, pearls and sea cucumbers for rice, drinking water and other staples. Although many of them were forced to adopt sedentary lifestyles, however, their unique way of life is still strongly linked to the sea as their income largely depends on fishing and free-diving, which means they inhabit the shorelines where they build houses on stilts.

According to Hazel Torrefiel of NCIP, they are trying to look into the welfare of the Bajao Tribe, after the storm, they were forbidden to rebuild their homes by the land owner and the local government for the very reason that the coastal areas or unsafe zones were initially designated as 40 meters ‘no build zone’ and later downgraded to ‘no dwelling zones‘.

It was learned that the 75 Bajao families were temporarily permitted to stay in an adjacent private land, with no legal rights and no security of tenure.

NCIP discussed proposed relocation plans with members of the Bajao community and to help relay their messages to local authorities.

“The Bajao were reluctant to move since the relocation site was too far from the coastline and the towns market where they make their living,” Torrefiel said.

Torrefiel stressed that special attention should be given to indigenous people. In terms of shelter and relocation, taking into account indigenous people culture and maintains their traditional way of life.

And for the Bajao according to Torrefiel, their culture is intrinsically linked with the sea and the shoreline and disaster response measures should be sensitive to their culture, tradition and beliefs.

2 PCF projects in Region 8 sourced from DAP are well implemented - Dir. Noval

By MYLES JOSEPH E. COLASITO
July 23, 2014

TACLOBAN CITY – The two (2) projects under the Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Region 8 which are said to have been sourced from the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) have been completed and are well-implemented, according to Regional Director Pedro A. Noval Jr.

“Our records show that of the P10 Million released to DILG-8 on December 27, 2012, the PCF projects worth P7 Million for the dietary building of the Leyte Provincial Hospital, and P3 Million worth Truck Scale/Weighbridge and its components for the Ormoc City Ecowaste Center have both been completed”, said Dir. Noval.

Leyte province allotted the P7 Million cash award from the PCF for attaining the 2nd round of the 2011 Seal of Good Housekeeping to transform a makeshift building to a full-fledged dietary building. Finished in 2013, the building was damaged by super typhoon Yolanda, but this was fortunately repaired by the Korean Araw Contingent and the Philippine Army Engineering Battalion. “Now the facility is serving more than a hundred patients or clients a day”, said Ofelia C. Absin, LPH Chief of Hospital.

On the other hand, the city government of Ormoc made a P70,000 counterpart to the P3 Million PCF grant for the truck scale in the ecowaste center. The weighing scale will again be fully operational once electricity to the ecowaste center is restored. “Considering the benefits and advantages of having a weighbridge, the city government is very much positive that it will yield results and contribute much in our solid waste management undertaking and even in the generation of locally sourced revenues,” wrote Mayor Edward Codilla to Dir. Noval last July 17, 2014.

The PCF was established by the late DILG Secretary Jesse M. Robredo in 2010 as an incentive to well-performing local governments who adhere to the principles of transparency and accountability as well as other facets of good governance. Thus, only LGUs that had complied with the Full Disclosure Policy and attained a passing (at the least a Qualified or better, a Clean or Unqualified Opinion from COA) were granted the Seal of Good Housekeeping in 2011 and 2012.

“DILG observes strict guidelines on screening possible projects under PCF, which should only be for those meant to help attain the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); disaster risk reduction and management and climate change adaptation (DRRM-CCA); and promote economic development”, said Dir. Noval. Further, inspection teams from its DILG Central and Regional Offices periodically conduct site evaluations to ensure that LGUs follow the program of work, and LGUs have to put up project billboards and submit reports.

Other PCF projects in the region have also brought positive impact to their communities. According to Mayor Romeo M. Gomez of Hinunangan, Southern Leyte, the P1M Catublian to Nueva Esperanza farm-to-market road (FMR) “… has paved the way for our farmers to be able to transport their goods efficiently (and) thereby cutting the cost of production.” Mayor Gomez went on to thank DILG for providing the PCF as one of the sources of funds for this FMR.

DILG Region 8 made the disclosure of the status of PCF projects for 2011 and 2012 in the spirit of transparency and to spell out the pronouncement of Secretary Mar Roxas that DILG projects were all aboveboard. The PCF website is at http://pcf.dilg.gov.ph/v2/.

2011 PCF Projects in Region 8

2012 PCF Projects in Region 8

Liquid robotics ocean drone battles super typhoon Rammasun

By MARKETWIRE
July 23, 2014

SUNNYVALE, CA – Battling estimated sustained winds of 145 mph and gusts to 175 mph, with waves over 45 feet, a Liquid Robotics Wave Glider® ocean drone positioned directly in the path of the storm successfully navigated and continuously collected weather data through the eye of Typhoon Rammasun (Category 5), one of Asia's biggest typhoons in 40 years. Conducting a meteorological mission in the South China Sea, the Wave Glider was deployed for a week prior to first encountering Rammasun's path on July 17th.

With seaports and transportation systems closed in multiple countries and caught squarely in the typhoon's path, the Wave Glider was remotely piloted through the storm collecting and transmitting vital and rare, real time wave, temperature, conductivity and current data all from the surface of the ocean. Collecting current data to 100 meters and full directional wave spectrum data, this encounter gives scientists a unique picture of the horrific surface conditions during this type of event. Until the invention of the Wave Glider no vehicle could travel through and survive typhoon/hurricane class storms to collect surface data without severe risk to human life.

"Our mission in building the Wave Glider was to build a surface drone which could persist in the ocean for very long periods of time despite the ocean's harshest conditions," said Roger Hine, Founder and CTO of Liquid Robotics. "There is no truer testament to the Wave Glider platform than the persistence of its sensor payload through one of the most catastrophic storms in recent history."