NHA to provide 60,000 homes for Yolanda survivors

MANILA, Philippines - The National Housing Authority (NHA) will provide at least 60,000 permanent housing units to the survivors of Super Typhoon Yolanda in six regions covering 14 provinces and 171 cities and municipalities, Vice President Jejomar Binay yesterday said.

Binay, chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, said the groundbreaking would be held in eight project sites in Leyte and Eastern Samar this month.

“The houses to be constructed by NHA will be permanent homes for the survivors and will be built on permanent relocation sites. The bunkhouses being constructed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) are temporary shelters,” he said.

He said NHA is validating the number of partially and totally damaged houses, checking the number of affected families to be relocated and identifying and evaluating potential resettlement sites.

He said the 60,000 estimate of the DPWH could change after NHA completes its validation.

“The NHA is also finalizing the design and costing of the houses to be built, as well as identifying build and no-build zones,” he added.

Binay said the Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund has set aside P5.5 billion for housing development in 22 Yolanda-affected areas.

“The program will be implemented jointly with developers for the development of housing units valued at P450,000 each. Of the P5.5 billion, P1.5 billion will be used for development while P4 billion is allocated as housing loan for members for a maximum term of 30 years,” he said.

He said no interest will be charged for the first six months of the loan term and a four percent interest per annum will be imposed starting the seventh month until the end of the second year of the term.

Housing for Sendong victims

Meanwhile, Binay said that of the 11,047 housing units needed for victims of Typhoon Sendong, 8,624 units or 78 percent have been completed by NHA, while some 800 units or seven percent are still being constructed.

He said about 1,640 displaced families in Cagayan de Oro also benefited from the seven land acquisition projects worth P87.61 million under the Social Housing Finance Corp.’s Community Mortgage Program Express Lane program.