September 5, 2017
By: Charissa M. Luci-Atienza

Heads will roll over the alleged anomalous and delayed implementation of Yolanda housing projects.

The House Committee on Housing and Urban Development has vowed to look deeper into the alleged substandard construction of Yolanda housing projects.

“I think it is going to open a can of worms,” Eastern Samar Rep. Ben Evardone who filed House Resolution No. 599 urging the House panel, chaired by Negros Occidental Rep. Albee Benitez to investigate the questionable implementation of the housing projects.

“We should not leave any stone unturned in our efforts to uncover the truth about the anomalies surrounding the Yolanda housing projects,” Evardone said, even as the panel pushed for a special audit by the Commission on Audit (CoA) of the Yolanda rehabilitation and recovery program.

Benitez said his panel will hold more hearings to look into the anomalies hounding the Yolanda housing projects after the Lower Chamber passes the 2018 R3.767 trillion General Appropriations Bill (GAB) this week.

“It involves people’s money, that is why we need to get to the bottom of this alleged substandard housing projects,” he said.

The panel conducted two-day investigation in Tacloban City from August 31 to Sept. 1 wherein Engineer Camilo Salazar testified that some houses built in Balangiga, Eastern Samar were allegedly substandard.

“I support more hearings on the matter so that we can hold liable those who capitalize from the sufferings of Yolanda victims,” Evardone who attended the hearing said.