6,500 more houses for CDO 'Sendong' victims

MANILA, Philippines - Some 6,500 more houses will be built for victims of tropical storm “Sendong” that struck Northern Mindanao last December and displaced thousands of people, Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said yesterday.

“This was the promise President Aquino made on Friday when he turned over an initial 1,500 housing units. We thank P-Noy and members of the Cabinet for helping our people,” he said.

Rodriguez said several agencies, including the National Housing Authority, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), and private corporations like San Miguel Corp. joined hands in building the initial housing units.

“We hope they will continue to do so to complete a total of 8,000 houses by July or August,” he said.

He added that aside from helping build houses, the DPWH is in charge of constructing roads in the permanent resettlement sites, while the DSWD assists those displaced in relocating and continues to provide relief goods to those in temporary shelters.

He said the city government provided the land for the permanent resettlement sites so that people would not go back to areas near the Cagayan de Oro River, where they would again be exposed to danger.

The President led the turnover of 1,500 housing units built at the Calaanan permanent resettlement site in Barangay Canitoan, Cagayan de Oro City the other day.

Aquino recalled that when he visited the city shortly after it was flooded in December, he told residents that he would help them recover from the tragedy and rebuild their lives.

He said he was back in less than four months to fulfill his promise. Rodriguez and other Northern Mindanao officials have blamed the flooding last December on logging operations, both legal and illegal.

Rodriguez said the flashfloods killed nearly a thousand residents and more than a thousand are still missing and presumed dead.