100 housing units rushed for Ecija typhoon victims

GEN. TINIO, Nueva Ecija — Work has started on 100 housing units in this known hotbed of illegal logging for families rendered homeless, including former illegal loggers, during the spate of typhoons last year.

Mayor Isidro Pajarillaga said the construction of the housing units is going full-blast in Sitio Pahalang, Barangay San Pedro, some five kilometers from the town proper.

The housing units will be financed at a cost of P5 million by the Hong Kong-Shanghai Banking Corp. (HSBC) and Gawad Kalinga. They consist of single-detached concrete structures.

Pajarillaga said the housing units were pledged by Warner Manning, HSBC president.

Councilor Sammy Pestrano, chairman of the committee on public works of the Sangguniang Bayan, said the beneficiaries of the housing units include former illegal loggers in Barangays Rio Chico, Pias and Concepcion.

"Hopefully, by March 30, all the 100 units would be finished and available for occupancy by our displaced residents," he said.

The STAR gathered, however, that the resettlement site in San Pedro is not acceptable to the displaced residents because it is far from the poblacion (town proper) and lacks a school.

But municipal administrator Rolando Manabat said the resettlement site is the only available municipal property nearest the town proper.

At present, he said the municipal government has no available resources to acquire a lot adjacent to the poblacion.

This town suffered P30 million worth of damage due to the typhoons and flash floods that struck in late-November. The calamities rendered 167 families in seven barangays homeless.

The Pantay Bridge in Barangay Rio Chico was severely damaged after logs and uprooted trees washed down from the Sierra Madre mountains, slammed into it.

President Arroyo visited this town last Dec. 24 to oversee relief efforts and announced that resettlement efforts would be rushed for the displaced residents.

She also awarded free land patents to 103 farmer-beneficiaries.

During her visit, the President also ordered the military to guard the Minalungao National Park in Barangay Macabaklay from illegal logging.

This town gained notoriety in the past because of rampant illegal logging, particularly in the Gen. Tinio-Doña Remedios Trinidad watershed.

Manabat said the displaced families could not be allowed to rebuild their houses in their respective villages due to safety reasons.

He said a proposed resettlement site in Sitio Sawmill, Barangay Poblacion East is considered a high-risk zone and is thus not ideal for resettlement.