A year after: Naga City landslide survivors still waiting for promised relocation homes

This November 5, 2018 file photo shows the survivors of the landslide mourning for their loved ones. The landslide  hit Barangay Tinaan, Naga City , Cebu on September 20, 2018. CDN FILE PHOTO

CEBU CITY, Philippines—It is almost the first anniversary of the tragic landslide in Naga City, Cebu and yet, survivors are still waiting for the National Housing Authority (NHA) to conduct the groundbreaking ceremony of close to 200 houses that were promised to them.

Naga City Mayor Valdemar Chiong on Tuesday, August 6, said they hope the NHA will able to have a groundbreaking ceremony of these socialized housing units, which will be built on a two-hectare area within the Balili property in Barangay Tinaan.

The lot was donated by the Cebu Provincial Government to the City of Naga in 2018 after the landslide.

Read more: Naga landslide update: Capitol to donate 2 hectares of Balili property to displaced residents

After President Rodrigo Duterte visited the survivors on September 21, 2018, the NHA committed to fund the construction of the landslide survivors’ relocation homes.

Chiong said they have been recently informed by the NHA that the socialized housing project are already in pre-bidding phase.

The massive landslide in Naga City that happened on September 20, 2018, wiped out Sitios Sindulan III and Tagaytay of Barangay Tinaan and left behind over 70 people dead.

Based on the latest harmonized assessment of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB), at least 444 households surrounding the ground zero of the landslide area were displaced and have to be relocated as their houses fall under the identified critical zones.

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Aside from the houses that will be built by the NHA, the city government of Naga has also started the construction of 50 houses, which is the local government unit’s counterpart in providing for relocation homes for the survivors.

“I am not privy to the number of calendar days that it would take for the housing project to be completed but if we would check on the site, we can really see that there is already a significant development,” Chiong said.

The city’s counterpart housing project is located in a separate lot but still within Barangay Tinaan.

The city government provided the 444 displaced households with three options for their relocation: the 242 ready-to-occupy NHA housing units in Valencia, Carcar City; the relocation homes that will be built in Barangay Tinaan by the city and NHA; and the relocation assistance option, which gave the residents at least P100,000 as subsidy per household for their immediate relocation./ celr