Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles– Noy Morcoso/INQUIRER.net File
The government will build and turn over the last 31,000 free housing units to victims of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) before President Duterte’s term ends, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles told local executives in Tacloban City on Friday. Citing data from the National Housing Authority, Nograles said that as of the second quarter of 2021, 141,229 houses had been completed and 18,749 under construction out of a target of 190,972 housing units. The remaining 30,994 houses are expected to be finished before the President’s term ends, said Nograles, chair of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Yolanda. For Eastern Visayas, he said that as of May 2021, the accomplishment rate was 77 percent with a total of 23,067 houses already distributed to beneficiaries. “Out of our target 52,408 free houses for Region 8, 40,225 have already been turned over, 7,943 are undergoing construction, and 4,240 will commence building soon. We have distributed 15,186 units in Eastern Visayas, and 6,881 were given to beneficiaries even before the pandemic,” he said.