By Elmer V. Recuerdo / Correspondent
TACLOBAN CITY—In her twilight years, 77-year-old Consolacion Monteroso should already be living a relaxed life, but Supertyphoon Yolanda did not gave her this chance. Instead, she is now taking care of her 10-year-old grandchild who lost both parents and a sibling during the typhoon. She is taking care of granddaughter Cherry Ann on her own, without government support.
Cherry Ann Juani, her grandchild, is already in Grade 5 and doing well in school based on her grades in her latest report card.
A Cebu-based doctor affiliated with a Protestant church organization is helping her financially by sending P500 a month. The doctor also gives them P2,000 worth of school supplies and uniform during the start of classes.
Monteroso has a daughter in Manila working as a saleslady who sends them P1,000 a month to cover their family expenses. The money is used to buy stocks for her small store.
“There are days when we earn P20; sometimes, we earn nothing,” Cherry Ann said.
Their house is made of light materials: The roof is made of tarpaulin donated by an international non-governmental organization at the onset of relief operations, while the walls are made of scrap wood gathered after the storm. The materials are so easy to destroy that they had been an easy target to robbery.
This month alone, two robbery attempts were already made at night. The first time, the robber carted their mobile phone while the second attempt did not succeed when a neighbor woke up and shouted at the robber. Monteroso thinks the robber is after her television, the only source of entertainment they have in the house.
At their present state, Cherry Ann only has two dreams—that they get a new house and for her to be able to finish her studies.
Living on a high-risk area near the shore, Monteroso and her grandchild are eligible for resettlement under the government housing project for Yolanda-affected communities. But until now, Monteroso said nobody from the city government has come to tell them when and where they will be relocated.
Monteroso said raising her grandchild is a big challenge, especially at her age when she could no longer find a job. She is not eligible of the government pension for senior citizens because she doesn’t know where to apply. Last year she tried to enlist Cherry Ann for the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or Conditional Cash-Transfer Program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), but she was not accepted.
“Maybe because I am not the mother of the child,” she said.
She worries about the future of Cherry Ann. “She is good in her class and is a hardworking girl. She really wants to be a teacher someday. But how can she finish her studies?” she said.
The DSWD is the lead government agency in handling cases of orphaned children, but sadly, its regional office in Eastern Visayas has no records on the number of children orphaned by Yolanda.
In December 2013 the DSWD, in partnership with United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef), launched Rapid Family Tracing and Reunification (RFTR) program to locate displaced Yolanda orphans. A month after it was launched, 109 children from Leyte were officially listed as orphans.
The program also included a training for interested foster parents for them to get a license from the DSWD. A foster parent is promised numerous benefits, including financial aid, goods and support services.
Ofelia Pagay, head of the protective services unit at the DSWD regional office, said they have no data on orphaned children because when the Unicef ended the RFTR program, it brought with them the data gathered.
“No data was left with us, but I am sure that no Yolanda orphan was adopted. They are staying with their relatives,” she said.
One person taking care of orphaned relatives is 70-year-old Clarita Cainong, who is taking care of her four grandchildren after her daughter Cecilia died when a storm surge brought by Yolanda flattened the village. Also killed were Cecilia’s husband and four of her children aged 8, 6 and 5 old and a 7-month-old infant.
Of the four siblings under the care of Cainong, one is already in high school, two are in the elementary grades and one is in preschool.
“This is an added responsibility shared by the whole family,” Cainong said. “I am lucky my other children are helping me financially to raise the children.”
Cainong said she is not receiving any assistance from the government for her orphaned grandchildren. She said somebody who introduced herself as a staff of the DSWD came to ask if she was going to give up her four grandchildren for adoption.
“I got very angry for someone to even suggest that I give up these children for adoption,” she said.
“If the government is willing to give assistance to those who are going to adopt orphaned children, why can’t it help us? I have no work or a steady source of income. It would be good if the government will also help me, especially because I am already old,” Cainong said.
A religious organization is helping her send the children to school. The Missionary Sisters Servants of the Holy Spirit Congregation provides the weekly allowance of the students: P435 for the high-school students and P290 each for the two elementary pupils.
The religious organization is also teaching the children how to save money by providing them with passbooks. “The children tend to compare among themselves how much money they have in the passbook. This encourages them to save more,” said Clarissa Cruzada, a community organizer.
Cruzada said the organization encourages children to participate in community activities. Some of them are already helping in facilitating disaster-risk reduction trainings in different communities.