The Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) is looking for alternative measures to fast-track the provision of long-term shelter facilities to victims of Typhoon Ferdie (international code name Meranti) in Batanes.
One particular issue that HUDCC and the National Housing Authority (NHA) want to resolve is the need to require the victims to present land titles to prove their ownership of the houses that were damaged by the typhoon.
“Based on the VP’s [Vice President] request, HUDCC and NHA will study possible alternatives to solve the ownership issues. This is due to the difficulty in requiring land titles from the victims of the typhoon,” Georgina Hernandez, spokesman of Vice President Maria Leonor G. Robredo, told the BusinessMirror on Wednesday.
In an emergency meeting on Monday, the HUDCC and six key shelter agencies (KSAs) decided to do away with the provision of temporary shelter facilities for the victims of the typhoon.
Robredo previously said the process for application of temporary housing relief is “too long,” with beneficiaries often receiving temporary aid years after a storm hits.
HUDCC had committed to ensure “well-coordinated” efforts in procuring construction materials, the transportation of goods and warehousing.
As Batanes is under a state of calamity and also a remote island region, there are no stores where housing materials may be bought, thus the need to procure materials.
“While there were no casualties in Batanes, many lost their homes and they are the ones we want to help as soon as possible,” Robredo said in a statement.
“We need to coordinate our efforts to send help to Batanes to hasten the delivery of construction materials for their homes,” she added.
Meanwhile, select KSAs, as well as the National Economic and Development Authority, will also conduct postdisaster needs assessments with the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council in Batanes.
Home Development Mutual Fund sent a roving team to Batanes on Tuesday to canvass the needs of its 2,000 members. They also brought generators to answer the electricity needs of affected families.
The NHA will also send a roving team to canvass the needs of victims in terms for housing materials.
NHA will review its current assistance program and streamlined requirements to prevent the delay experienced by the victims of the 2013 Supertyphoon Yolanda.
Earlier, Robredo said Itbayat suffered the brunt of the typhoon, as 900 houses on the island were totally or partially damaged.
According to the 2012 Small Area Estimates data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority, Itbayat is the poorest municipality in Batanes with a poverty incidence rate of 34.1 percent.
Batanes has five municipalities—Basco, Itbayat, Ivana, Mahatao, Sabtang and Uyugan. Based on the 2015 Census of Population, Batanes has 17,246 residents.