‘Yolanda’ survivors to get P5,000

Survivors of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) in the Visayas who have not received emergency shelter assistance (ESA) from the Aquino administration will soon get P5,000 in cash aid, which President Duterte promised last November.

Social Welfare Secretary Judy Taguiwalo said she has issued to their field offices in the Visayas the guidelines on how to validate the households eligible for assistance and how to go about the distribution of aid without much red tape.

Under her Memorandum Circular No. 3, each eligible household will receive P5,000 regardless of the extent of damage caused by the supertyphoon to their home.

The beneficiaries will get the money through a cash card to be issued by the Land Bank of the Philippines.

Eligible for the aid are Yolanda-affected families in the Western Visayas, Central Visayas, Eastern Visayas and the Negros Island Region who have not been given ESA or any housing assistance.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will consider all pending requests for emergency shelter assistance as of Nov. 8, 2016.

“The assistance is meant to give justice to Yolanda survivors who have been fighting for three years to get emergency shelter assistance from the government,” Taguiwalo said.