Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles announced on Tuesday that 10 days after remembering the devastating typhoon which struck large areas of the Visayas in 2013, the Duterte administration was again distributing a new batch of completed housing units to survivors of Typhoon Yolanda.
“The houses for Yolanda beneficiaries in several towns in Iloilo, Antique, Aklan and Capiz are 100% complete and are 100% occupied by the intended beneficiaries,” Nograles said.
“The President wants that by 2020, all Yolanda housing units would be completed and distributed.”
The Cabinet Secretary made the statement during the ceremonial turnover of Yolanda housing units at the Park Inn Hotel at Mandurriao in Iloilo City.
At the event, the Region 6 office of the National Housing Authority (NHA) formally transferred ownership of housing units to residents of Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo (275 housing units); Culasi, Antique (1,974 units); Altavas, Aklan (393 units); and Panit-an, Capiz (572 units).
Nograles expressed gratitude to regional and local government officials for their efforts and sacrifice at beating the deadline set by President Rodrigo Duterte for the completion of the residential units.
“We now see the fruits of hard work and dedication to address the needs of our kababayans who bore the wrath of Typhoon Yolanda. We made good on the President’s commitment, and we can see that the people of Region 6 are very appreciative of the Duterte administration’s efforts.”
Nograles chairs the Inter-Agency Task Force Yolanda, which oversees the implementation of the Yolanda Permanent Housing Project.
“We’re doing our very best to complete everything so that by the end of the President’s term, all work is done.”
Based on NHA figures, as of September 30, 2019, out of the 117,203 intended housing target for the entire Region 6 area, 83,644 units have already been completed, while another 27,496 housing units are being built, which is equivalent to a 94.83% accomplishment rate.
“We’re doing our very best to complete everything so that by the end of the President’s term, all work is done. I’m inspired by the dedication of our national and local officials who work together to make the construction work even faster, of course without sacrificing safety and quality,” Nograles said.
“The housing turnover eases the pain and suffering of Yolanda victims. They can now start a new chapter in their lives and hopefully move on,” he added.
Nograles expects an accelerated pace in turning over more housing units in the coming weeks because the NHA has committed to meet its target of substantial completion before 2019 ends.
“The President wants that by 2020, all Yolanda housing units would be completed and distributed. So far, we’re on track to meet that objective,” Nograles said.