‘Yolanda’ victims get new, better houses

TACLOBAN CITY—For Maria Berja, Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan) was not a major disaster but a blessing. She was among the 400 families who received on Saturday new houses.

“Of course, this is a big blessing for all of us. We never thought that because of Yolanda, we will now be living in a house that is not only sturdier but far better from our previous house,” said Berja, 66, whose house at Barangay 59, Sagkahan District, was washed out due to the storm surge generated by Yolanda on Nov. 8, 2013.

Berja, a mother of four children, said their old house was only made of light materials standing on a government-owned lot.

“I could not help but cry when I received the document that shows we own the house. My husband and I will take care of this very, very beautiful house,” she said.

Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez accepted the houses in behalf of the 400 beneficiaries.

The 400 units, painted in vibrant colors, were donated by SM Foundation with its various partners, including the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

The new resettlement site is located in Barangay New Kawayan, 14 kilometers away from the city proper, and is known as Pope Francis CFC ANCOP Canada Community-SM Cares Village.

The CFC ANCOP and the Canadian government were donors of the housing units.

Each house has a floor area of 40 square meters with a bathroom and kitchen. A basketball court was also put up in the area for the youth in the resettlement site.

Among those present during the turnover were Canadian Ambassador Neil Reeder, SM Prime president Hans Sy and Archbishop John Du of Palo, Leyte province.

Reeder, in his speech, said that his government has donated a total of $200 million to the Philippine government and various humanitarian groups working to help the Yolanda survivors.

“We saw the devastation of Yolanda. That is why we are here. We hope Tacloban will bounce back,” he said.

Du said he was thankful to donors who helped build the houses for the survivors of the strongest typhoon to hit land.

“We are very happy that our dream has finally been realized. I’ve been wanting to see this realized,” he said.

The 2-hectare resettlement site was donated by the Palo archdiocese.