Noy inspects housing projects in Compostela, Tacloban, Zambo City

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino spent the whole day yesterday visiting government housing projects in typhoon-hit Compostela Valley and Tacloban City, and Zamboanga City that was ravaged by soldiers’ standoff with Muslim rebels.

Aquino started his inspection in the morning by visiting the core shelter housing project in Compostela Valley, which Typhoon Pablo pummeled in December last year.

He turned over new houses to at least 115 survivors of Typhoon Pablo in Barangay Kidawa in Laak town, Compostela Valley.

Each house costs P110,000, which the President said is a manifestation that the national government has not left the residents of  Kidawa, one of the communities hardest hit by Pablo.

In Compostela Valley alone, the government has already built more than 600 houses and 2,000 more are yet to be completed as part of the housing project of the administration.

Aquino said the new houses are built in relocation sites approved by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau as safe for such structures.

The President also said he expects the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to immediately work on the construction of roads and other necessary infrastructure for the new community of typhoon survivors.

Aquino was accompanied by Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman, Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla, Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras, Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson and rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson.

Aquino arrived at the Davao City International Airport at 10 a.m. yesterday and was welcomed by Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and other local officials before he boarded a helicopter that would lift him to Kidawa.

From Compostela Valley, Aquino flew to Zamboanga City.

He visited the newly built bunkhouses for the survivors of the siege inside the Joaquin F. Enriquez Sports Complex, the biggest evacuation center in the city, and met with evacuees and promised them a better resettlement site within six to 18 months.

Aquino was also briefed by Singson and Mayor Ma. Isabelle Climaco-Salazar about the Zamboanga City Roadmap Recovery and Reconstruction (Z3R), and the President promised to infuse P3.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the city.

Based on data from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), at least 23,794 families or 118,819 people from 14 villages were affected by the clashes between soldiers and Moro National Liberation Front forces last September. Of these, 4,883 families or 23,011 people are staying in 13 evacuation centers.

The DSWD has so far extended P273.79 million in relief to the affected residents, including food and non-food items, and P1,364,300 for cash-for-work programs. – Delon Porcalla, Edith Regalado, Roel Pareño, Rainier Allan Ronda