Over 1,400 victims of typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) were finally awarded their housing units in Ormoc City on Thursday.
In a statement, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles reported the completion of the Yolanda housing project in Ormoc City, Leyte, which were finally distributed by the National Housing Authority (NHA) to 1,419 beneficiaries on Thursday via virtual turned over ceremony.
Of said housing units under the Yolanda Permanent Housing Project,1,000 are located in Bagong Pag-asa Subdivision Phase 1 and the remaining 419 in Bagong Pag-asa Subdivision Phase 2, located in Barangay Margen.
“We have seen how determined everyone was in finishing the project despite the challenges posed by Covid-19. Work was sustained and non-stop, and now we see the fruits of everyone’s labor,” Nograles said.
Nograles, who serves as chairman of Task Force Yolanda, said they will be awarding more housing units later this month to Yolanda victims in Eastern Visayas, particularly in Cabucgayan, Biliran, and Almeria in Biliran province, Tacloban City, Baybay City, and Basey in Samar.
As of June 2020, NHA reported out of 54,508 housing units allocated for Region 8, 35,462 units have already been delivered. It is constructing an additional 10,877 housing units,
Nograles said they are targeting the completion of all the housing units in the next two years before the end of the President Rodrigo R. Duterte’s term.
“President Rodrigo Duterte gave clear and urgent instructions to continue addressing the needs of our people and expedite the completion of these units before his term ends,” Nograles said.
Image credits: AP/Toti Navales