Housing aid to Yolanda victims hiked — Lacson

CEBU, Philippines - Shelter assistance to Yolanda survivors whose houses were damaged by the super typhoon has increased, the Presidential Assistant for Rehabilitation and Recovery said.

Rehabilitation Czar Panfilo Lacson said that from the initial P10,000 aid to each “partially” damaged house, the amount has been increased to P30,000 while P70,000 each to survivors with “totally” damaged house or more than double from the previous P30,000.

“Wala na mang mabibili iyong P10, 000 for partially damaged houses at P30,000 for the totally,” said Lacson.

Lacson, however, said the concern now is the availability of the budget. The PARR reported that only P50 billion out of the P170 billion needed budget is available to fund the rehabilitation effort in all areas affected by Yolanda.

Of the P50 billion, P39 billion has been distributed to different national agencies while the remaining P11 billion was released just last Monday to the National Housing Authority for its housing project.

For Cebu Province, in instance, around P7 billion from the P12-billion investment requirement would still be needed to complete the rehabilitation of the affected areas in the north.

Lacson said the gap could be addressed once the National Treasury declares the P260-billion in its coffer as “savings” by the end of the fiscal year. A big chunk of the said amount could be poured to the rehabilitation effort in Yolanda-affected areas, he added.

Lacson assured that Cebu will not be left behind in terms of funding for its being consistent in doing follow ups.

“We give credits to the local government units (chief executives) who are proactive, aggressive, not timid. ‘Yong hingi nang hingi at masipag mag-follow up, ‘yon ang mga mauuna. And Governor Hilario Davide II is one of them,” he told reporters.

He further called on the other local government units to reach out and set politics aside instead of ranting on the rehabilitation effort.

Special Proclamation

Concerns regarding the acquisition of land to be utilized as relocation sites remain unsolved, almost a year after Yolanda’s devastation.

In Cebu, Santa Fe Mayor Jose Esgana said that while the availability of P11-billion fund for NHA’s housing project is a good news, there are still legal impediments on land acquisition that have to be addressed. He was referring to areas identified as relocation sites that are not titled and only covered by tax declarations.

Land titles, rather than tax declarations, are considered in purchasing relocation sites, as required by the Commission on Audit.

Esgana requested Lacson to ask if the President could issue an order declaring these areas as alienable and disposable.

“Di pa namin masasabi na kami ay natutuwa talaga dahil hindi pa kami mabibigyan ng bahay at lupa through NHA,” he told Lacson in a press conference on Tuesday after a turnover ceremony of classrooms by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.

Lacson responded that they are working “double hard” to address the issue, saying that the legal opinion of the Department of Justice was even sought for this matter.

He said the Department of Environment and Natural Resources is backing up his office’s proposal to the President for the issuance of a special proclamation.

DENR identified 4,000 hectares in different typhoon-affected areas in the country that are suitable for relocation sites but are remote areas, Lacson added.

The PARR reported that the NHA only needs 1,364 hectares to relocate the 205,128 housing units in all typhoon-hit areas in Visayas. — (FREEMAN)