420 families now occupying transition houses in Legaspi

LEGASPI CITY — At least 420 families, whose houses in a village here were either buried in mudflow or washed away by rampaging floodwaters from Mt. Mayon at the height of typhoon "Reming" last month, have begun occupying "transition houses" in a nearby barangay.

Legaspi City Mayor Noel Rosal said the homeless families from Barangay Padang, where over 200 people were either killed or remained missing due to Reming, were the ones given priority and relocated to the "transition houses" built by carpenters and laborers of the Metro Manila Development Authority in Ibalong Village, Barangay Taisan.

"But we need to expedite the construction of houses made of concrete materials because these transition houses, as the term connotes, are only temporary as they are only made out of light materials," Rosal told The STAR.

During the turnover ceremony, Vice President Noli De Castro, with Social Welfare Secretary Esperanza Cabral, announced the release of P20 million for the housing project of the typhoon-affected families in the city.

De Castro said President Arroyo ordered him to immediately construct a Gawad Kalinga, or community-building project, to serve as permanent houses for those left homeless by past typhoons that struck the Bicol provinces, particularly Albay.

Rosal said next to be relocated are those families whose houses were totally destroyed by Reming along the coastal villages here.

"We have already identified the sites where to relocate them. But we have to negotiate for more sites that are safe from mudflow and floods," he stressed.

Over 5,000 families here were rendered homeless by typhoon Reming. They continued to stay at different evacuation centers across the city since Nov. 30 when the typhoon struck.