By Raymund F. Antonio
The Office of the Vice President is wrapping up preparations for the construction of 40 temporary shelters for displaced residents of Marawi City in a place named Angat Buhay Village.
Situated at Barangay Boganga, it is expected to become home to Marawi residents for the meantime since it might take the government some time to complete the rehabilitation.
“One of the things we will focus on this 2018 is the Marawi rehabilitation. We have been there since the start of the Marawi siege. And we will continue to provide aid and relief goods. For now we will build the Angat Buhay Village,” Vice Presidential spokesperson Georgina Hernandez said in Filipino.
About 600,000 residents fled their homes in the Lanao del Sur capital due to the five-month war between government troops and the Maute terrorist group.
The housing project was realized through the P7.5 million donated by Robredo’s 25,000 supporters across the country under the “Piso Para Kay Leni Movement” and also funds from her office’s partnership with private companies.
Hernandez, also the head of OVP’s Advocacy and Anti-Poverty programs, said she already talked to Marawi City Mayor Majul Gandamra and volunteer architects about the construction of temporary housing in the village.
“We already went to the place. The team already had a site visit,” she said.
Hernandez said these housing units will have toilets, electricity and water. There will also be livelihood assistance to the community of displaced Marawi residents.
Last year, the Piso Para Kay Leni Movement launched a fund-raising campaign to help Robredo in paying the balance of the fee for the electoral protest filed by former Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
The Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, however, denied their request to accept the financial contributions. Instead, the group turned over the funds it collected to the OVP’s Angat Buhay program.