Duterte assures typhoon survivors: Relocation houses are free

President Rodrigo Duterte. AFP FILE PHOTO / MALACAÑANG PHOTO BUREAU

MANILA — President Duterte assured on Wednesday survivors of two destructive typhoons, which displaced hundreds of thousands of residents in Visayas and Mindanao, that they would no longer have to pay for their relocation houses.

Mr. Duterte made the surprise announcement to the victims of Typhoon “Pablo,” which devastated the Davao region in 2012, and Supertyphoon “Yolanda,” which flattened large swathes of Eastern Visayas a year later. The typhoon survivors attended the National Housing Summit organized by the National Housing Authority (NHA) in Quezon City.

“As long as I am the President, it’s free. (You have to pay) no more,” the President said to the delight of the survivors, who were supposed to pay P200,000 for each of the relocation units.

“Truth be told, are you going to pay? It’s now free because Filipinos don’t know how to pay anyway,” he said, eliciting laughter from the audience.

If NHA officials would demand payment from them, the Chief Executive told the typhoon victims: “If the collectors come, tell them, ‘Get the payment from Duterte. Look for him.’”

Pablo (international name: Bopha) was the strongest recorded weather disturbance to ever make a landfall in Mindanao, a region not known to suffer the brunt of typhoons.

On the other hand, Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) was the deadliest natural disaster to hit the Philippines, leaving more than 6,000 dead and destroying billions of pesos in private properties and public infrastructures.  It was the strongest recorded cyclone to hit land in the world. SFM