P7.4 billion more added to Yolanda housing program

MANILA, Philippines — The housing program in areas devastated by Typhoon Yolanda has been given an additional P7.4 billion, Malacañang said on Saturday.

The additional funds will allow the government to build more than 32,000 housing units in regions affected by the 2013 cyclone, Cabinet Secretary and Yolanda task force chief Karlo Nograles said.

Most of the housing units are expected to benefit communities in Eastern and Western Visayas.

“The budget for the Yolanda permanent housing program has been increased. The amount of P7.4 billion has been added to the program budget and we can build an additional 32,294 housing units,” Nograles said in an online forum.

He said President Duterte extended the term of the Yolanda task force and made the housing project a priority even as the country is battling a pandemic.

A total of 122 houses were turned over to beneficiaries during a virtual ceremony held in Barangay San Isidro in MacArthur, Leyte on Thursday.

It was the 10th virtual turnover of completed housing units for Yolanda survivors.

Citing data from the National Housing Authority, Nograles said 37,414 of the 53,038 housing units for benificiaries in Eastern Visayas have been completed as of Oct. 12.

He said 133,107 of the 195,388 planned housing units for the entire Yolanda corridor have been finished.

The houses are located in Caraga region, Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan) and the Visayas, Nograles said.