By IVY TEJANO
The provincial government of North Cotabato and the National Housing Authority-12 officially turned over 52 housing units to families affected by an earthquake in 2019 in Barangay New Caridad, Tulunan, North Cotabato on Wednesday, July 10.
NORTH Cotabato Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, Tulunan, North Cotabato Mayor Reuel Limbungan, and National Housing Authority (NHA)-12 Regional Director Engr. Zenaida Cabiles lead the turnover of 52 housing units to families affected by the 2019 earthquake in Barangay New Caridad, Tulunan, North Cotabato on Wednesday, July 10. (Ivy Tejano)
Gov. Emmylou Taliño-Mendoza, Tulunan Mayor Reuel Limbungan, and NHA-12 Regional Director Zenaida Cabiles led the turnover.
Limbungan said the permanent housing units are part of the 517 built for the identified beneficiaries constructed by the NHA in Tulunan. He added that 517 families in the town were affected and rendered homeless by the earthquake.
The local government unit purchased five hectares of land intended for housing, barangay, and school sites in Barangay Caridad. It will also provide other needs for the housing project such as electricity and water supply for the beneficiaries.
Limbungan thanked Mendoza for the assistance during the time when some of his constituents were severely affected by the earthquake and needed support.
Cabiles said aside from New Caridad, 140 housing units will also be turned over to Barangays Paraiso, 122 to Magbok, 63 to Batang, and 140 to Daig, all in Tulunan.
Each unit, with a floor area of 27.50-square meters and a lot area of 80-square meters, costs P289,500 to build.
The total project cost was P149,613,004.91. To date, the overall accomplishment of the project was 45.50 percent. Target completion date of the project is November 9.
The project was funded by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council-Office of Civil Defense (OCD) implemented under the Housing Assistance Program for Calamity Victims of the National Housing Authority (NHA).
All the beneficiaries were recommended for relocation by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Mines and Geosciences Bureau (DENR-MGB) and the Department of Science and Technology-Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (DOST-Phivolcs).
Thirty-three-year-old Cheryl Pandacan, one of the beneficiaries, thanked the government for her house. She said her new house in New Caridad is much better and safer than the one her family had in Sitio Elcac which was located on top of the hill.
"Actually, we decided to turn our damaged hut in Sitio Elcac into a shelter from the Sun. We still go back there because our livelihood is there. Our products – banana, corn, coconut, and rubber – are there,” Pandacan said in the local dialect.
Pandacan and her family are among the T’boli and B’laan tribes who were granted a housing unit after magnitudes-6.3, 6.6, and 6.5 earthquakes hit the province. The area where they lived for 15 years was identified by the government as a landslide-prone area.
Mendoza thanked local and national government units for helping the victims of the earthquake.