TACLOBAN CITY (PIA) — Twenty-one disaster-stricken homeowners from Leyte and Tacloban recently received cash relief assistance from the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Regional Office 8 (DHSUD-8).
As a highlight to their 6th anniversary, DHSUD-8 distributed P210,000 worth of cash assistance under the agency’s Integrated Disaster Shelter Assistance Program (IDSAP). This is a one-time, unconditional cash assistance of P30,000 provided to families whose houses are totally damaged; while, P10,000 given to those with partially-damaged shelters due to calamity, either man-made or natural.
Grateful beneficiaries said the assistance will help them go through recovery and rehabilitation and build back a sense of normalcy and stability in their lives after the disaster.
All the beneficiaries in the recent payout were affected by the onslaught of Typhoon Kristine in October, which caused widespread damage, leaving thousands of families from different provinces in the country with destroyed homes.
Under this emergency assistance program, DHSUD extends cash aid to beneficiaries whose houses are damaged or destroyed by disasters such as typhoons, earthquakes, landslides, and fires.
Mikshane Lipalam, 26, from Brgy. Talairan, a coastal village in Capoocan town and among those whose houses were destroyed during Typhoon Kristine,thanked the DHSUD for providing her shelter assistance, which they can now use to repair their home. Talairan village is located along the shorelines of Carigara Bay facing Biliran island.
She said it has been hard saving up for the house repairs with a child to feed and only her husband working as security guard in a nearby town in Naval, Biliran.
DHSUD-8 Regional Director Michael Victor Tezon said during the Kapihan sa PIA Eastern Visayas that DHSUD promised to stay on the frontline of disaster response, both at national and local levels and to immediately aid families to rebuild their homes.
“When others help are in the form of food assistance or clothing, with DHSUD we would like to assist those disaster-affected to rebuild homes, as it is really hard to lose homes that provide safe shelter for their families,” Tezon said.
He added that the program will further develop into providing beneficiaries with actual building materials such as GI sheets, plyboards, and others and not just cash assistance.
Launched in February 2024, the IDSAP has already distributed P2.44 million cash assistance to 155 beneficiaries in Eastern Visayas who were affected by fires and typhoons Aghon, Enteng, and Kristine. (ACR/PIA Leyte)
