Vice President Jejomar C. Binay on Friday led the turn-over of completed housing units in Cagayan de Oro City (CDO) to families displaced by the floods caused by Typhoon Sendong.
Binay, Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), turned over 200 completed housing units located at the National Housing Authority (NHA)-CDO Bayanihan Village Phase I in Brgy. Camaman-an.
“Sampung buwan matapos ang hagupit ng bagyong Sendong, napagtulungan nating paratingin ang bagong buhay at pag-asa,” the housing czar told the beneficiaries.
“Sa kabuuang bilang na apat na daan at apatnapung bahay (440) na itinatayo rito, dalawang daan (200) na ang kumpleto at maaari nang lipatan ng mga pamilya,” he added.
The Vice President said that the property where the houses are situated was acquired by NHA to be developed as a resettlement site for families in CDO affected by Typhoon Sendong.
The site covers some 4.7 hectares and is some 4.7 kilometers away from point of origin of the beneficiaries.
“Ito ang unang community na ang lupa ay binili pa ng NHA sa pribadong sektor upang maisagawa ang resettlement. Ang mga bahay dito ay pinatayo ng Habitat for Humanity gamit ang pondo na galing sa (Department of Social Welfare and Development) at sa NHA,” he said.
The housing units cost P110,000 each, with DSWD shouldering P70,000 and NHA covering the remaining P40,000.
Binay urged the beneficiaries to take good care of the houses that were given to them.
“Siguro ang iba sa inyo ay sanay sa mas malaking bahay. Maliit man o malaki, ang mahalaga ay may matitirhan at masaya ang mga nakatira,” he said.
“Alagaan n’yo pong mabuti ang inyong tirahan at komunidad. Huwag hayaang masira o mawala dahil lamang sa pagwawalang-bahala,” he added.
The Local Government Unit of CDO will provide livelihood programs to the informal settler families relocated in the area under its Livelihood Assistance Program.
The Vice President was among the first national government officials to visit CDO in the aftermath of Sendong to give aid and personally assess the damage wrought by the typhoon.