Poorest ‘Yolanda’ victims to get new houses

MANILA, Philippines—Beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program, or 4Ps, who were displaced by Super Typhoon Yolanda will get new homes in a permanent relocation site in Tanauan, Leyte, Social Welfare Secretary Dinky Soliman said Saturday.

Soliman said President Aquino himself visited the site in Barangay (village) Pago on Tuesday last week during his two-day visit to disaster-ravaged areas in commemoration of the 28th anniversary of the Edsa revolution.

Aquino witnessed the signing of an agreement among government agencies to construct permanent homes for the town’s typhoon victims and 4Ps beneficiaries.

The agreement was signed by officials of the National Housing Authority, Department of Public Works and Highways, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, Gawad Kalinga and the local municipal government.

The 4Ps is a poverty-alleviation program, also known as conditional cash transfer (CCT), which provides cash for the education of children of the poorest families. It operates in 79 provinces covering 1,484 municipalities and 143 cities in all 17 regions nationwide.

The program has 3,927,917 registered households as of June 26, 2013.

In his speech, President Aquino commended the typhoon survivors, saying Filipinos derived strength from those who weathered the storm.

Tanauan Mayor Pelagio Tecson told Soliman the first 50 permanent houses would be ready this month.—Cynthia D. Balana