A year after Yolanda, survivors ‘build back‘ lives as well as houses

TACLOBAN, LEYTE - On a warm Tuesday afternoon, 35-year-old Jona Cortez is on top of the wooden skeleton of what would become another house for one of her neighbors. The lone female among the carpenters, she pounded away with her hammer, then checked on what her peers had done.

Her hard hat and long-sleeved shirt, the uniform of choice for the house-builders, was her only protection from the day's heat. The sun's rays have darkened her face, leaving patches of redness.

But the heat had not dimmed her exuberance. "[Paborito ko] 'yung pag-assemble sa taas," Cortez said, beaming. "Kasi hindi na mabigat masyado ['yung trabaho], nasa taas na kasi."

Jona Cortez is the lone female carpenter at Barangay 62-A, a community a stone's throw away from the Tacloban City Convention Center. GMA News

Cortez is among the survivors of super typhoon Yolanda who are helping build better houses in devastated communities - their communities. Her work as a carpenter and contractor is now her contribution to the family finances, helping her husband support their two children and the three others he had from a previous marriage.

From being a part-time barangay health worker and door-to-door salesperson, she saw carpentry as a job opportunity. It was a skill that was scarce after Yolanda swept across the central Philippines in November 2013, killing more than 6,000 people and causing damage estimated at P35.5 billion.

"After Yolanda kasi, wala kang mapipili na trabaho. Kung iisipin mo talaga 'yung pamilya mo -- kung paano mo sila mapapakain, kung paano mo sila mabibigyan ng bahay, kasi sira na 'yung bahay -- gagawin mo talaga para sa kanila kung anong trabaho," Cortez explained.

Chosen as a contractor, she now also supervises the work of her fellow survivor-carpenters, most of them male. She is well compensated for her work as a carpenter. And with unit assignments coming by usually twice a month, they are always opportunities to help out neighbor-beneficiaries.

‘Building Back Better’

Cortez had gone through 15-days of carpentry training under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA), through the "Building Back Better in Tacloban: Post-Haiyan Community Rehabilitation" project of non-governmental organization Plan International - Philippines.

The year-long project, funded by the USAID Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance, supports Tacloban's Barangays 62 and 62-A -- located right across the Tacloban City Convention Center. The project provided shelter assistance to 1,289 households, or more than 6,000 individuals, whose houses were "officially listed" as totally or partially damaged.

Out of these houses, some 300 units will be rebuilt, while 889 were classified for rehabilitation, with the project providing repair kits to the beneficiaries.

One of the first finished houses built by Yolanda survivors, who were trained in carpentry through the Building Back Better project. GMA News

Among the first ones to benefit was Fidel Pacampara Jr., father of four.

He, along with neighbors who participated in the project, built his two-bedroom house. They used portions of the original structure that survived the typhoon, including the kitchen sink.

"Ngayon may sariling kwarto 'yung mga anak ko. Apat kasi sila, puro babae," Pacampara said.

"Masaya rin na nakakatulong sa mga kasama dito, sa mga kapitbahay," he added.

Housing still a problem

The work on housing in Tacloban, however, remained a major problem. Mayor Alfred Romualdez had said last week that fewer than 100 of 14,500 promised permanent houses had only been built.

The mayor hoped that the needed housing would be built by 2017, though a lack of suitable land has been hampering progress.

On Tuesday, President Benigno Aquino III instructed government agencies to fast-track housing projects for Yolanda survivors via Administrative Order 44.

The order tasked agencies involved in housing to designate representatives to ease processing of permits, certifications, and clearances for Yolanda-related housing projects.

The administrative order also prescribed a duration for the issuance of these documents. — DVM, GMA News