By Argyll Geducos President Duterte assured members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) that he will give them new and better housing units after he approved the recommendation to give the existing ones allotted for them to families displaced by the Jan. 12 Taal Volcano eruption. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte (REY BANIQUET/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO) In a speech in Malacañang, Duterte told the military to bear with what was happening, saying they will eventually get the housing units for them. "I've been building , karamihan (mostly) for the military, but when there is an emergency and when there is a need to provide shelter and there is none, I always ask the military to step aside," he said Thursday evening. "Sabihin ko na lang sa kanila na (I'll just tell them), 'You just bear this event and let me get back to you with a more...,” he added. During the 46th Cabinet meeting on Tuesday, President Duterte approved the recommendation to give all 5,448 housing units intended for members of the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP) in Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, and Quezon to the families displaced by the eruption. According to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), around 6,000 households stand to be affected by the evacuation from a radius of seven kilometers from the volcano, with the island of Taal itself housing 2,000 families. In his speech Thursday, Duterte said the houses for the displaced families were ready but they were not near their old homes. "I have a ready--but of course it's not really that near. It is far but I think I have... I have a thousand, I think, available and it has served as well during the many crises we have faced in the past," he said. The President likewise admitted that a lot is yet to be done to help improve the welfare and lives of the families displaced by the restive volcano. "Marami pa talaga (There really is a lot that needs to be done). We have the Taal and we have to look for the money for that. Budgeted na kasi 'yan, eh (The money is already budgeted for this year), and who would ever expect that Taal would blow up at this time?" he said. "So ‘yung mga ginagamit natin sana, for example, sa agriculture, makukunan 'yan (So the money supposed to be for something else, for example, agriculture, we have to get from there) because then we'll have addressed the challenges of the Taal people." Late last month, President Duterte urged Congress to allocate funds for the construction of evacuation centers in disaster-prone areas, including the areas near Taal Volcano, while the legislative works on a supplemental budget for the victims of the eruption.