YOLANDA HOUSING. An aerial view of the still to be completed housing project in Medellin, Cebu, for the victims of the 2013 Super Typhoon Yolanda. (FB PHOTO/ JONJI GONZALES)
Close to 240 families can expect to move in to new homes by December this year, more than three years after their old houses were destroyed by Super Typhoon Yolanda in 2013.
Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino ordered contractors working on housing projects in the towns of Daanbantayan, Medellin and Bantayan on Bantayan Island to turn over housing units by year-end.
“I feel bad because we’ve been waiting for this in a long time,” he said during the visit on Sunday, prompted by orders from President Rodrigo Duterte to have families displaced by Yolanda finally relocated.
His first stop was a P187-million project in Sitio Ayong, Barangay Maya, Daanbantayan, covering 5.5 hectares with 650 25-square-meter units being built by Hi-Tri Development Corporation.
Daanbantayan, located 123 kilometers north of Cebu City, is Cebu mainland’s northernmost tip and was among the areas worst hit by Super Typhoon Yolanda three years ago.
Project engineer Joseph Densing of Hi-Tri committed to turn over 36 out of 650 units by December and complete the project by May 2017.
When asked what took them so long to finish the project, Densing said they are still having difficulty securing permits from the local government unit.
Daanbantayan Mayor Vicente Loot, however, said he no longer has any pending applications for permits in his office.
He said that he has even allowed construction works on the site without a Notice to Proceed (NTP) from the National Housing Authority.
Another 90 housing units in Barangay Antipolo, Medellin, have also been committed for turnover before Dec. 15 this year by contractor RFN Construction and Development Corp.
RFN project engineer Elizer dela Paz said they are only having minor issues with the procurement of materials, but their target is doable.
The project is worth P182 million and stands on a 4.7-hectare area. Each housing unit, totaling 631, measures 28.4 square meters.
With water and electricity available now on-site, Dino said he does not see a reason why families cannot still move in to their new houses.
RFN also committed to finish all 631 units by March next year and turn them over to beneficiaries by April.
TRO matter
Meanwhile, Dino said he will lobby for the lifting of a court temporary restraining order that has barred the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) from issuing Environmental Compliance Certificates (ECC) for all development projects on Bantayan Island.
All projects requiring ECCs have been compromised, including relocation projects for Yolanda-affected families on the island.
The Regional Trial Court Branch 28, based in Mandaue City and presided by then judge and now Court of Appeals Justice Marilyn Yap, issued a TRO on the issuance of ECCs for projects on Bantayan Island in October of 2015.
The TRO stemmed from a petition filed by environmental lawyer Antonio Oposo against Marlins Resort in Santa Fe, one of the towns on the island.
However, the court issued a TRO on the issuance of ECCs for projects on the whole island instead.
Pending the lifting of the TRO, Dino urged Grandby Trading and Construction, which is undertaking an 8.7-hectare relocation project in Barangay Kabac, Bantayan town, to carry on works that will not defy the TRO so it can deliver housing units by year-end.
This includes the cutting and installation of water pipes, among others, or anything that isn’t explicitly prohibited in the order.
Grandby Trading project engineer Maria Larie Billo committed to turn over 100 housing units by December this year should the TRO be lifted.
Phase 1 of the project is made up of 450 units while phases 2 and 3 have 450 and 390 units, respectively. The whole project costs roughly P373 million, and phase 1 is supposed to be completed by the first quarter of 2017 yet.
Following his site inspection, Dino said he will also meet with other concerned agencies to ensure that education, livelihood and security components are also available at the resettlement areas.
“We’re not just building houses, but we’re building communities,” said Dino.
Delays
Until today, the National Housing Authority, which is tasked to implement resettlement projects in the Yolanda corridor, still hasn’t completed a single one due to “land titling issues” and the “wilderness status” of some areas such as Camotes and Bantayan islands.
There are 31 resettlement housing projects specified under the Yolanda rehabilitation plan for the Central Visayas region, four of which are still ongoing while 27 have not begun.
Resettlement projects make up only 1.1 percent of the total number of projects but has been allocated the biggest amount out of the total budget at 52.10 percent or P6.57 billion.
Ongoing resettlement projects translate to a total of 1,951 housing units in Daanbantayan (650), Medellin (631), Tabuelan (220) and Bantayan (450).
The 27 projects that have not been started are equivalent to 20,472 housing units spread across the towns of Daanbantayan, Medellin, San Remigio, Tabuelan, Tuburan, Tabogon, Borbon, Sogod, Sta. Fe, Bantayan, Madridejos, San Francisco, Tudela, Poro, Pilar and Bogo City.
A total of 4,363 housing units are expected to rise in Daanbantayan, 3,693 in Madridejos, 3,520 in Bantayan and 1,960 in San Francisco, as these are the towns that took the worst hit from Super Typhoon Yolanda.