More Navotas folk get new homes 3 years after ‘Pedring’

More than 300 families displaced by Typhoon “Pedring” in 2011 have been awarded housing units by the Navotas City government as of May, thanks to the help of volunteers from Habitat for Humanity-Philippines.

The latest batch of 109 families got their new homes last month on a reclaimed 8.4-hectare property in Barangay Tanza, according to the city’s information officer Jayne Banayad.

“We helped the victims immediately, right after the storm. In fact, some of the families displaced (in Navotas) were relocated to a (National Housing Authority) site in Bulacan province. It’s just that the latest batch of families wanted an in-city relocation,” Banayad said on Saturday.

The local government hopes to complete 1,280 units at the Tanza site, she added. The new community provides “studio-type” homes for the beneficiaries and comes with flood-control projects like pumping stations and earth dikes.

In a statement, Habitat-Philippines chief executive officer Charlie Ayco said: “After the long wait, these families can now have a safe and decent home where they can start building a new life full of hope for a bright future.”

According to Banayad, the first 200 families were given homes at the site as early as 2012 through the efforts of Navotas Rep. Toby  Tiangco.

While waiting for their houses to be finished, the families stayed in various evacuation centers in the city, with the Department of Social Welfare and Development providing them food.

Typhoon Pedring lashed Luzon and lingered within the Philippine area of responsibility for a week in September 2011, killing 83 people and leaving P14.9-billion in damage to infrastructure and agriculture.