Victims of typhoon “Pablo” in the 16 barangays of New Bataan, Compostela Valley are getting shelter assistance from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), local government unit (LGU), non-government organizations (NGOs) and humanitarian agencies, according to Beverly Jane dela Pena, Municipal Social Welfare and Development Officer of New Bataan.
“We are getting shelter materials and tools worth P5,000 per family for partially damaged houses while the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is giving core houses to 50 families. Aside from these, 72 families whose houses were totally damaged have already transferred to the nine bunk houses built by DSWD in Barangay Poblacion, said dela Pena.
“Dili nako ma explain akong gibati kay ingon man gud nila nga ang mga namuyo sa tent city ra ang maka avail. Wala koy regalo nadawat karon pero pasalamat lang gihapon ko sa Ginoo nga buhi ming tanan ug kining balay (bunkhouse) nga usa mi sa mga napili (I cannot explain what I feel because they told us that only those who live in the tent city will be able to get a unit. I did not receive any gift for my birthday today but I am still very thankful to God that we are all alive and that we are one of those who were chosen to stay in the bunkhouse),” happily admits Edna Palma Gil of Poblacion New Bataan.
Carmelita Mamalyas of Purok, 4-B Poblacion, with her four children, expressed her gratitude to the government for including her in the list of the beneficiaries. “Ang pagpili sa mga mamuyo diri, ginasurvey nila ang mga na washout nga mga balay dayon wala nay kabalayan pud nga lote. Ang among lote naapil man og kaanod, sapa na siya karon. Dili na pwede kabalayan (The government did a survey and prioritized all houses that were washed out and those that have no more lots to build on. Out lot was among those washed out, it is now a river. We cannot build there anymore),” shared Carmelita.
Among the other agencies providing shelter assistance in New Bataan are the National Housing Authority, Humanitarian Relief Consortium (HRC), Habitat for Humanity, Chinese Baptist Church, Red Cross, Holcim and Davao Medical Center.
According to Ms. Dela Pena, they are thankful for the many government and non-government agencies which have been helping New Bataan since the start of the disaster operations for typhoon Pablo.
“The Department of Agriculture has also distributed vegetable seeds and other farm implements to farmers. Many of our people have started planting corn but we can only expect the harvest by June or July,” shared Ms. Dela Pena.
A total of 11,327 families or 45,308 individuals were affected by “Pablo” in New Bataan. Most of them are small farmers or working in one of the bigger farms also affected by the typhoon. ###
