The revelation of the National Housing Authority that so far the agency has built some 50 houses for storm victims is rather shocking. Six months since Yolanda struck the country, with Tacloban as the hardest-hit area, the NHA has accomplished so little. So we ask: where is the money for rehabilitation? Is this how inefficient our government is? The Aquino administration has appointed former Senator Ping Lacson as its rehabilitation czar, which to some may not be the best choice of the President because there are many other professionals, not politicians, who are more capable and knowledgeable than Lacson. Now if it were accurate that the NHA, as it had already admitted, had only accomplished this much, then the Aquino administration has a big accountability issue. It has no excuse why the government can only help so little to our calamity-stricken people since many countries had come forward and extended aid to the country.

According to unofficial estimates, the country has received more than P12 billion of cash aid from foreign governments, excluding in kind donations. This figure is on top of the allotted P100-billion budget, which was already approved by Congress for rehabilitation programs for Yolanda-hit areas. During a congressional inquiry last Wednesday, Senator Francis Escudero has revealed that only P4 billion, or 4 percent of the allocated budget, has been released for rehabilitation projects. The senator told media: “For the first time, may binigay ang Kongreso na pondo. Ngayon nagbigay ang Kongreso ng pera, pero hindi naman ito ginagastos. Less than 10 percent ng pondo pa lamang ang nagagamit. Lahat ng government agencies naghihintay ng plano.” The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) says it cannot release a huge amount of money to government agencies responsible for rebuilding Tacloban City and the rest of storm-battered places without the imprimatur of the Office of the President.

In order to get the approval of the Office of the President for fund release, there is a need for a government agency concerned to submit the so-called Post-Disaster Needs Assessment (PDNA) report. Now, this is hard to swallow: Karen Jimeno, communications director of the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery (OPARR), has disclosed that government agencies have not submitted their homework: a post-Yolanda rehabilitation plan. In contrast to Bohol in which Gov. Edgar M. Chatto was able to come up with the Post-Earthquake Recovery Plan for Bohol two months after the 7.2 magnitude tremor struck the province on Oct. 15 last year, the local governments in Leyte and Samar, including the government agencies tasked to assist these struggling places, have not come up with a clear roadmap how to rise from devastations. While Pres. Aquino has made Bohol as his poster model how a local government should function amid good times and bad times, the President cannot do the same to other LGUs in the country.

So, where does the rehabilitation effort in Yolanda-stricken areas hit a snag? Are we going to blame the LGUs for such glaring incompetence? Or are we going to blame the President himself for not doing enough to exhaust his power and resources in order to see results rather than press releases? There is no question that Bohol, through the leadership of Gov. Chatto, has done its best in the aftermath of the earthquake, prompting Aquino and the rest of national officials to heap praises on Bohol leaders. But Bohol is just one of the many parts of the country hurt by a calamity. The President has a gargantuan responsibility of rebuilding the cities and provinces outside Bohol. And if he fails to do so, Aquino may forever lose his legacy.