70,000 houses for typhoon victims to be constructed next year – Abad

About 70,000 housing units are set to be constructed next year for the victims of typhoons and other natural calamities, Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad said Tuesday.

At the Senate Committee on Finance hearing on the Department of Budget and Management’s (DBM) P1.4-billion proposed budget for 2015, Abad said P30 billion in the 2015 national budget has been allocated to the calamity fund, of which P20 billion will be used to provide shelter for calamity victims.

“I recently had a meeting with rehabilitation czar Panfilo Lacson and I found out that lots have already been secured, geo-hazard planning has already been conducted and the beneficiaries have already been listed,” Abad said.

He said an additional P1 billion from the calamity fund will be used for the rehabilitation and repair of establishments damaged by recent typhoons.

NDRRMC, NHA

Abad added that the calamity fund is set to be released to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), while the housing project will be implemented by the National Housing Authority (NHA).

The beneficiaries of the housing project will be the victims of calamities in the last quarter of 2013 and the current year, he said.

Several disasters displacing thousands of residents and resulting in millions in property damage have occurred recently, including the 7.2-magnitude earthquake in central Visayas last October; Super Typhoon Yolanda in the Visayas region a month later; Typhoon Glenda in July this year and Tropical Storm Mario last month. — BM, GMA News