NHA grants shelters to Typhoon Pablo victims

DAVAO DEL NORTE, November 25 (PIA) - - I am sorry; wala moy bayranan. (You will have no fees).

Deafening claps and roar filled the open tent at the New Bataan Resettlement Project 1, Brgy. San Roque, New Bataan as Task Force Pablo Chief, Sec. Jose Rene Almendras announced that the houses built for the beneficiaries were given to them for free.

“You have been chosen by the DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development) as ideal beneficiaries of the program therefore you will pay nothing,” Secretary Almendras said.

Almendras added that the DSWD ensured that those who benefited the project were the victims of the typhoon and the ones who really needed the houses.

Secretary Almendras, together with NHA General Manager Chito Cruz, Gov. Arturo Uy and other officials of Compostela Valley province, turned over earlier today 2,967 houses to Typhoon Pablo victims from five towns in the province.

The houses were spread in San Antonio Village, Brgy. Maparat, Compostela with 300 units; Lower Ulip Resettlement Project, Brgy. Poblacion, Monkayo, 443 units; Sariwarain Village, Brgy. Union, Monkayo, 225 units; New Bataan Resettlement Project 1 and 2 in Brgy. San Roque and Andap respectively, both in New Bataan, 1,254 units; Vida Vista 3, Brgy. New Visayas, Montevista, 335 units; and Mont Eagle Ville, Brgy. Kidawa, Laak, 400 units.

Atty. Cruz emphasized that the NHA already handed over 10,105 houses to the typhoon victims in the provinces Compostela Valley and Davao Oriental.

“Before this year ends, we will turn over another 3,750 houses and another 3,347 houses by March 2015,” Cruz said.

Meanwhile, the NHA also turned over on the same day 538 houses to the Pablo victims in three different areas in Cateel, Davao Oriental.

The identified sites were San Alfonso Village, Brgy. San Alfonso with 167 units; San Antonio Village III, Brgy. San Antonio, 289 units; and Cateel Housing Project, Brgy. Taytayan, 82 units.

The shelters built by NHA were duplex-type houses with 22 sq. m. floor area placed in a 60 sq. m. lot. (PIA 11, Michael Uy)