ReliefWeb

By Carina Cayon

DAVAO CITY, Nov. 13 (PIA) – The municipal government of Magsaysay in Davao del Sur is fast tracking the turnover of another batch of housing units to earthquake victims in order to reduce the number of remaining families in the evacuation centers.

Magsaysay Mayor Arthur Davin bared that about 100 housing units are ready for turnover this month, saying that this would add up to the more than 500 units which were already given to the evacuees.

Davin said that if the additional units would be turned over, they would then serve decent abode for about half of the more than 1,500 families who lost their homes during the series of strong earthquake that severely hit the municipality last quarter of 2019.

He added that the National Housing Authority Region XI (NHA-XI) is continuing the construction of the remaining houses which are part of the 2,002-housing unit project for Magsaysay with a budget allocation of P579,579,000.

Apart from NHA, the local chief executive disclosed that some organizations from the private sector have also provided assistance for the earthquake victims, such as the Philippine Red Cross which constructed 54 houses in Barangay Gamang and a rural community which sponsored 61 houses in one of the relocation sites.

Meanwhile, Davin mentioned that the displaced families still continue to do farming as their main source of income in their farm lots, while they are staying either in the evacuation centers or in their new homes in the relocation sites.

He said that based on the recommendation of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) and Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), they can still return to their farm lots and continue farming.

“It’s just dangerous to live there because they’re in hazardous areas,” Davin stated in the vernacular. (PIA-XI/Carina L. Cayon with report from Samantha R. Jabol)