GOV. Arthur Yap has confirmed that he invited the Habitat for Humanity Foundation and International Organization for Migration (IOM) in a bid to help rebuild houses destroyed by the recent super typhoon ‘Odette.’
“Invited na sila,” he said in his text message to the TIMES but he did not reply whether Habitat or IOM has responded positively.
Earlier on, the TIMES inquired if the provincial government is contemplating to invite Habitat and IOM during face-to-face press briefing. And the governor said that it was a good suggestion.
The rebuilding of some 280,000 out of 360,000 plus private houses ruined by the super typhoon Odette has become a difficult task for the concerned owners. As of press time, there’s no accurate figure yet ow many houses are “partially” or “totally” damaged.
It literally adds to the burden of the owners who cannot be connected by electric unless their abodes are rebuilt based on distribution utilities (DUs) policy even if the Leyte-Bohol geothermal power source has been interconnected already.
Some government agencies and other generous private groups have poured their resources for the purchase of G.I sheets, the most demanded material for shelter. Reports said that the provincial government have received materials and distributed them to those who need most.
Would IOM, Habitat come again?
The big question now is what would the Habitat and IOM come again here for the rebuilding even when there’s still a lingering unfinished business?
The unfinished business refers to the unfinished construction of the target total of 8,093 core houses that Habitat vowed to complete. But it did not.
According to DSWD that a total of 4,215 core houses had been constructed through the Modified Core Shelter Assistance Project (MCSAP) by the agency in partnership with Habitat. The said houses “have already been turned over, as of June 25, 2019, to survivors of the 7.2-magnitude earthquake that hit Bohol in 2013.”
The beneficiaries are the families from the towns of Sagbayan, Catigbian, Carmen, Balilihan, Tubigon, Loon, Calape, Antequera, Buenavista, Clarin, Corella, Cortes, Danao, Inabanga, Maribojoc, San Isidro and Sevilla. They are the owners of these houses after receiving their Certificates of Completion, Acceptance, and Occupancy from the Department.
It was not known whether the balance of 3,768 (8,083 minus 4,215) core houses has been completed.
If not, are these number (3,768) houses are assumed by the IOM after Habitat backed out to complete the construction.
But certainly the Habitat-built core house for Manatad family in barangay Matabao, Tubigon, Bohol was not finished.
Edith Manatad said that they have already started to rebuild a house where the old one hit by
Odette once stood. Her brother is building a house nearby where the Habitat-built is situated.
She said that they used the money (P30,000) given to them sometime in early December 2021
by the DSWD for the purchase of materials before the Odette hit their area. She said that it’s
good they did not use the money immediately for if they had and built their house the probability that the typhoon may hit it may not be remote.
But while they’re victims of the 2013 earthquake and the recent typhoon they’re still struggling
to make both ends meet.
Habitat intends to build some 8,083 core houses with funds from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) then headed by the late Social welfare Sec. Dinky Soliman under then the late President P-Noy.
It can be recalled that in 2014, Soliman turned over to Habitat the first tranche of a check amounting to P317,520,000 during a ceremony in Sagbayan for core shelter construction. The second tranche, amounting to P248,290,000, was expected to come next.
During the turnover, the recipient town, the provincial government, and Habitat signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).
The agreement stipulates that the cost of the Core Shelter Assistance per unit will be P88,000 for a house that has been damaged totally. Of this amount, P70,000 will come from DSWD and P18,000 will come from Habitat. The P18,000, however, may be given in cash or in the form of labor; land; facilities or equipment; administrative cost; communal facilities such as day care centers and libraries; and social services such as medicines, missions, feeding programs.
At P88,000 per housing unit, the MOA stipulates that P711,304,000 will be provided for 8,083 core shelters.
Each core shelter has a total lot area of 25 square meters with toilet and connections for electricity and water supply.
Social Welfare Secretary Corazon “Dinky” Soliman said they would replace Habitat for Humanity Foundation in the construction of core housing units to earthquake victims.
“We are changing Habitat. It’s unfortunate. That’s what happened. We need to change because they’re not delivering,” Soliman told a press conference.
She added the agency would be meeting with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a Geneva, Switzerland-based organization, which helped build houses in the aftermath of the tremor on October 15, 2013. But she did not give more details.
The change was seen as a dire effort because Habitat and the government miserably failed to complete the housing project. (rvo)
