“The current Bohol Earthquake Action Plan (BEAP) has received only 27.4 per cent of the US$46 million requested,” Paul Thomas, head of the Bohol-based sub-office of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) of the United Nations, said in an emailed communication.  The percentage is equivalent to only $12.4 million as promised by the generous international donors. However, Thomas did not explain why only a meager fund is being received that might adversely affect the fast-tracking of recovery of quake-hit communities.  Thomas is succeeded by Jock Paul Jock to head OCHA in Bohol and has returned to his regular duty station in Zimbabwe after three months stay here. He said that a multi-sectoral groupings, including private, local government units with provincial government at the helm and non-government organizations (NGOs), have already started to tackle in discussing the Bohol Earthquake Action Plan during the recent workshop here on January 10, 2014.  Included in the priorities are the fast tracking of reconstruction of houses and resettlement of remaining families still in the evacuation camps and the compile accurate information on the number of internally displaced families (IDFs), he said. He said that the discussion is aimed at assisting clusters that are tasked to different concerns. These clusters are agriculture, camp coordination/camp management, early recovery, education, food security, livelihood, logistics, nutrition and protection.

 The October 15, 2013 earthquake's impact, toll on human lives, damages to infrastructure and old churches and the demand for basic survival needs have become the focal points of the multi-sectoral groups with provincial government at the helm and that of international community as co-lead and private sectors armed with multi-pronged approach to rebuild the victims' lives.  The provincial government led by Gov. Edgar Chatto and the OCHA started to consolidate humanitarian efforts consultative in workshop with $46.8 million in sight to help rebuild Bohol and victims' lives in various clusters.   “This action plan seeks US$46.8 million to reach 344,300 people over a six-month period until April 2014,” the BEAP indicated, even as it acknowledged that reconstruction and recovery take time and “recovery planning is critical at the early stages of the response.”

 The amount of funds are expected to come from Adventist Development and Relief Agency Philippines (ADRA) with $500,000; Catholic Relief Services (CRS), $2,379,887; Food and Drug Administration (FAO), $900,000; Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), $1,622,750; International Labour Organization (ILO), $4,423,515; International Organization for Migration (IOM), $5,800,000; OCHA, $450,000; SC, $820,000; United Nations Development Program (UNDP), $5,130,000; United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), $2,300,000; United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), $12,179,822; World Food Program (WFP), $5,000,000; World Health Organization (WHO), $4,539,000; and World Vision, $713,813.  The said fund, if realized, will be part of the requirement in rebuilding Bohol. The biggest bulk of these fund requirements is the Emergency Shelter, worth $9,716,450.  Comes next is Water, sanitation and hygiene with $8,000,000 and Health, $6,839,000.  Equally important are the following: Agriculture --- $900,001; Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) --- $800,000; Coordination ---$450,000; Early Recovery --- $5,130,000; Education ---$2,500,000;; Food Security ---$4,000,000; Livelihood ---$4,423,515; Logistics ---$1,000,000;  Nutrition ---$2,000,000; and Protection ---$1,000,000.

 The shelter cluster has identified a total of 13,402 totally damaged households and some 65,815 partially damaged ones as well as those living in hazard zones. There are temporary shelters or 608 households in five towns; 28 bunkhouse in Tubigon out of 156.  The National Housing Authority (NHA) is funding some 38,801 households through PhP10,000 worth of materials and the Department of Social Welfare and Development is to cover some 42,000 households all over the province.  Meanwhile, a separate proposal by the provincial government indicated that 17 affected municipalities still need resources to build or rebuild homes of the quake victims, who still are crowding in tent camps while others are home-based make-shift as their temporary shelters.  The shelter rehabilitation program entails a total fund of PhP912,690,000, divided into PhP346,880,000 and PhP565,810,000 for totally and partially damaged houses, respectively. “Funds will be mainly sourced from the National Government thru the Dept. of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) with counterpart funds from the local government units, if needed.”

 Based on the proposal for building shelters/housing assistance program for the victims, the following towns are being allocated funds from the national government: Buenavista, PhP47,930,000; Clarin, PhP41,760,000; Corella,  PhP2,250,000; Sevilla, PhP18,320,000; San Isidro, PhP35,370,000; Catigbian, PhP25,570,000; Loon, PhP118,210,000; Danao, PhP19,460,000; Balilihan, PhP23,390,000; Maribojoc, PhP91,540,000; Cortes, PhP56,830,000; Antequera, PhP63,130,000; Sagbayan, PhP101,680,000; tubigon, PhP74,640,000; Inabanga, PhP63,950,000; Carmen, PhP68,540,000; and Calape, PhP60,120,000.

 Under the proposal, the allocation is computed based on the number of houses/dwellings, totally or partially damaged. A totally or partially damaged house is allocated PhP70,000 and PhP10,000 each, respectively.  A total of 42,771 houses destroyed by the quake have been identified and validated. A total of 34,688 of these (houses) are partially and 8,083 houses totally wrecked out of the total 85,726 devastated dwellings that cost of PhP1.7 billion.  The total number of totally or partially damaged houses in the towns are as follows: Buenavista, 2,987; Clarin, 2,280; Corella, 111; Sevilla, 1,232; San Isidro, 1,671; Catigbian, 1,951; Loon, 4,291; Danao, 1,268; Balilihan, 1,673; Maribojoc, 2,956; Cortes, 2,569; Antequera, 2,329; Sagbayan, 3,958; Tubigon, 3,798; Inabanga, 3,695; Carmen, 3,302; and Calape, 2,700.  Prioritization and assessment of the beneficiaries of ther program are conducted by both the DSWD and LGUs concerned. “Validation of the beneficiary households as well as the social preparation and capability building of the beneficiaries will be done by the municipal social welfare and development officer of each town in coordination with and assistance by the DSWD,” the program pointed out. (RVO)