ILOILO City – Nearly six years after super typhoon “Yolanda” hit Western Visayas, 70.71 percent of the housing projects for displaced families have been completed as of July 31, 2019.
The National Housing Authority (NHA) reported this to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles and Interior secretary Eduardo Año during meetings with mayors of “Yolanda”-affected local government units in Region 6 on Aug. 19 at a hotel here.
NHA committed to finish the remaining 30 percent and address the problems experienced in those already completed such as water and electricity connections, Nograles said yesterday.
“We’re also asking the Local Water Utilities Administration and National Electrification Administration, kasama na ang mga electric cooperatives, to help,” said Nograles.
Super typhoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) was one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded in the world and the deadliest in the Philippines on record, killing at least 6,300 people. It hit Western Visayas on Nov. 8, 2013.
As of July 31, 2019, of the total housing demand of 205,128 units in the “Yolanda” corridor, 117,203 (57.14 percent) were in Region 6, data from NHA’s Yolanda Permanent Housing Program (YPHP) showed.
Of the 117,203 housing demand in the region, 82,873 units (70.71 percent) have been fully completed (36,474 or 44 percent now occupied while 46,399 or 56 percent ready for occupancy).
Per province, the housing allocations were as follows:
* Aklan – 15,148 units
* Antique – 18,177 units
* Capiz – 12,036 units
* Iloilo – 43,987 units
* Negros Occidental – 27,055 units
Of the 50 municipalities in the region included in the YPHP, NHA said 28 (or 56 percent) have active Local Inter-Agency Committees (LIACs) while 22 (44 percent) are still for reorientation.
“Ang commitment namin is ipa-fast-track ang completion ng housing units. But we also seek the commitment of local government units to hasten the awarding of completed units sa mga beneficiaries,” said Nograles.
LIACs can help in this regard, he stressed.
“Sila ang mamimili at mag-identify kung sino ang karapat-dapat na beneficiaries,” said Norgales.
The national government hopes to wrap up the YPHP by next year./PN
