TACLOBAN CITY—Contrary to the claims of the National Housing Authority, the government has only so far constructed 10 percent of the housing units intended for families who lost their houses due to Super Typhoon “Yolanda” or for those located in danger zones.
In a press conference on September 17, the Community of Yolanda Survivors and Partners (CYSP), an alliance of 163 community organizations, claimed that based on the report of NHA, only 20,893 of the target 120,000 housing units were built as of March of this year.
The NHA claimed that the housing units were “almost complete.”
However, it sought a P12.64-billion budget for 2017 of which P1.3 billion was to be allocated to Yolanda-related housing projects.
“My family still lives in temporary housing,” Lita Bagunas, a leader of informal settlers from Giporlos, Eastern Samar, said.
Rina Reyes, coordinator of RIGHTS for Eastern Visayas, a non-government organization helping the “Yolanda” survivors, also said majority of the households in danger and no-build zones in Eastern Samar are unaware of the government’s shelter reconstruction plan.
CYSP submitted a proposal to the government that includes ensuring adequate affordable, decent, safe and accessible housing with secure tenure, availability of social services, facilities and infrastructure and livelihood programs for the survivors.