FOR PAMPANGA MUDSLIDE VICTIMS: Lawmaker to fund relocation site

SAN FERNANDO, Pampang , Philippines a – Third district Rep. Aurelio “Dong” Gonzales Jr. yesterday said a resettlement site for some 200 families affected by the mudslide that killed 12 people in Arayat town last weekend will soon be set up in the same barangay.

Gonzales and the municipal government gave assurance of a permanent relocation for the mudslide victims to prevent similar disasters in the future.

“I have allotted P1 million from my Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) for the purchase of a 2.5-hectare land situated in the same barangay,” Gonzales said.

“The relocation site will still be in San Juan Baño. We don’t want the beneficiaries to transfer too far from their original place. But the relocation site is a safe area, which is near the Pampanga Delta,” he said.

Aside from the P1 million to be used for the acquisition of the 2.5-hectare land, Gonzales said he will also set aside at least P6 million from his congressional allotment to help develop the dwellings of the mudslide victims and the surroundings of the relocation site.

Gonzales said he intends to develop the relocation site into a model community, which will have facilities like a covered court and playground for children, as well as basic utilities, including proper waste disposal.

He said the Department of Social Welfare and Development assured him that it would provide each of the affected families with P70,000 to rebuild their homes.

Gonzales added that National Housing Authority general manager Federico Laxa told him that the agency would help in developing the new community.

“The President is very supportive of the project and has given instructions to concerned agencies to provide assistance as appropriate and necessary to fast-track the relocation of the victims,” he said.

For his part, Arayat Mayor Luis Chito Espino said it is high time to relocate the displaced families to a safer place “for them to start a new life following that tragic incident.” 

“We are going to relocate them. The municipal government is looking at a one-hectare land to accommodate all of them,” Espino said. 

Close to 100 houses were destroyed by the avalanche of mud and boulders triggered by unusually heavy rains dumped by tropical storm “Ondoy” on the slopes of Mt. Arayat last Saturday.