Hundreds of Pinatubo families still in evacuation centers

CLARK FIELD, Pampanga — The government has already spent close to P6 billion to provide houses and lots to at least 49,484 families displaced by the 1991 eruption of Mt. Pinatubo, but hundreds more still linger in evacuation centers awaiting resettlement.

The "remnant" office of the Mt. Pinatubo Commission (MPC) appears likely to fail in its mission to provide homes to some 3,000 lahar-displaced families in Central Luzon. It has been given yet another year to finish all its tasks.

But Jesus Luis Guisadio, resettlement administrator of the Pinatubo Project Management Office (PPMO) which has been placed under the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), said 2,000 housing units are now being rushed at the San Isidro resettlement in Magalang, Pampanga.

Some 500 other houses completed in other areas are set to be turned over anytime to families still in evacuation centers.

Of the finished housing units, 270 are in Akle in Mexico town and 170 in Madapdap in Mabalacat town, both in Pampanga, and 60 in Bacao in Palayan City, Nueva Ecija. They were built by the Army’s 51st Engineering Brigade at a cost of P60,000 each.

The PPMO was initially a task force administered by the Department of Budget and Management after the MPC’s abolition last year. Tasked to resettle some 3,000 lahar-displaced families, it was placed under the HUDCC’s jurisdiction four months ago.

Guisadio said 500 more families are still in evacuation centers at the Bulaon resettlement in the City of San Fernando in Pampanga. Negotiations are underway for the purchase of land near their livelihood source.

"The families do not want to be resettled elsewhere because this would dislocate them from their jobs," Guisadio said.

He said the PPMO has been given until Dec. 31 next year to finish its terminal report before the office is finally dissolved.