Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro – Build back better – Three words that resonated in a vast space where the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Corazon Juliano-Soliman stood to lead the groundbreaking ceremony of relocation sites for two Barangays affected by typhoon Jolina (2009) in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, January 24, 2014.
A total of 397 families will benefit from the Core Shelter Assistance Project (CSAP), to which two relocation sites were identified as hazard-free, environment-friendly residential lands. Sec. Soliman together with Sablayan town Mayor Eduardo B. Gadiano, Congresswoman Josephine Sato and DSWD Region IV-MiMaRoPa Director Wilma D. Naviamos spearheaded a groundbreaking ceremony in two separate relocation sites: Sitio Cigaras and Sitio Yapang.
Core Shelter Assistance
A Core Shelter Assistance Project (CSAP) was incepted to help relocate residents of Barangay Ilvita after its households were badly destroyed by TY Jolina in 2009. The barangay subsequently suffered widespread flooding that in turn ruined their households and livelihoods. The recurring incident compelled Mayor Gadiano to put forward a plan of relocating affected families to a disaster-free area in order to eliminate the risk of living in flood-prone regions of Bgy. Ilvita.
In 2012, a plan for construction of relocation sites for identified beneficiaries was successfully generated. The DSWD will fund the project with a 27-million grant. Fifty eight families (8 of which are Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries) will each be granted with a 500 sq. /m lot in So. Yapang of Bgy. Batong Buhay. The area was a former relocation site for families that were displaced by Mt. Pinatubo volcanic eruption in 1991. Moreover, a 5 hectare lot in So. Cigaras in Bgy. Ilvita that were acquired and developed by LGU of Sablayan will be allocated to 339 families (103 are Pantawid Pamilya beneficiaries). A 100 sq. /m lot is intended to be provided per target beneficiaries in the said sitio.
Build back better
The Philippines is a country situated in the western Pacific basin where typhoons are generated. The country is visited by at least 21 typhoons each year that leaves families, houses and agricultural lands devastated if not completely wrecked. Reconstruction of typhoon-destroyed houses require significant amount of money that most of the poor families could not afford.
President Benigno Aquino urges all concerned government agencies to not only reconstruct disaster-wrecked houses, but to build structurally strong shelters better and more disaster-resistant. The idea was best encapsulated in the borrowed phrase from Pres. Aquino by Sec. Soliman during her speech in Sablayan that is to build back better. She emphasized the importance of not only rebuilding a house for it to stand until the next typhoon comes, but to rebuild a house for it to withstand typhoons until the rainy season ends.
The convergence strategy
The DSWD upholds its commitment to providing social protection programs to the marginalized sector of the country. Through
partnership with LGUs, National Agencies, Non-government Organizations and various associations, a more efficient project is successfully implemented. “Hindi po magiging matagumpay ang anumang proyekto kung walang pagtutulungan ng iba’t-ibang sector ng pamayanan,” stressed Sec. Soliman. “Hindi lang magsisilbing panibagong tirahan ang mga bahay na itatayo dito, kundi tatayo din kayong modelo para sa iba pa nating kababayan, ” Sec. Soliman added, referencing to the community’s unbroken chain of support and devotion to the CSAP.
On the other hand, Dir. Naviamos posed a challenge to the LGU of Sablayan before the beneficiaries saying houses should be ready for occupancy in a progression of 9 months. Mayor Gadiano lightheartedly referred to the challenge as similar to the course of pregnancy, “Ang proyekto pala ng CSAP ay parang pagbubuntis, kelangan mailabas matapos ang 9 months,” he said which solicited laughter throughout the venue. Mayor Gadiano, on a serious note, accepted the challenge and promised the beneficiaries of a disaster-free shelter before the typhoon season begins.
