Iloilo turns over first disaster-resilient housing project to beneficiaries
By Tara Yap
A P36-million disaster-resilient housing project opens in Batad, Iloilo. (Capitol PIO)
ILOILO CITY – The Iloilo provincial government has turned over its first disaster-resilient housing project to beneficiaries from a landslide-prone area in the northern town of Batad.
“If we want to spend money on evacuation centers, why not allocate it to building houses for our relocatees. We know who these residents are that we evacuate every typhoon or disaster,” said Gov. Arthur “Toto” Defensor Jr. during the inauguration on Thursday, March 19.
The P36-million socialized housing project was constructed under the Purok Resilience Program (PRP), which won the Excel Awards of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) for Excellence in Disaster Preparedness.
The Resilience Village in Purok 3 of Barangay Nangka has 30 units for select beneficiaries who lived in a landslide-prone area.
Each 36-square-meter house has one bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom and has a provision for extension to a two-bedroom house and a second-floor mezzanine.
The village has solar powered streetlights, underground power lines, a rainwater harvester, and a water system.
Beneficiaries were provided with rainwater harvesters, solar powered street lights, underground power lines, and a water system.
The village is located close to the source of livelihood of beneficiaries.
The provincial government built the 5,000-meter village on land donated by the municipality of Batad.
Also present during the turnover ceremony were Vice Gov. Lee Ann Debuque, Provincial Administrator Raul Banias, Mayor Elvira Alarcon, and Vice Mayor Steven Michael Y. Andrada.
Defensor said that the project will also be expanded to the towns of Concepcion, Oton, and Pototan.