International Red Cross provides shelter for 1,000 typhoon victims

TABUK CITY, Kalinga – About 1,000 families from three towns in the province of Kalinga had been selected as beneficiaries of shelter assistance intended for typhoon victims from the International Federation of the Red Cross.

Kalinga Red Cross administrator Glorina Diaz said the 1,000 families in Pinukpuk, Rizal and Tabuk, whose houses were damaged by typhoons "Ondoy," "Pepeng" and Santi last year will each be given P7,000 worth of building materials so that they could start rebuilding their homes for them to have a convenient living.

"All the recipients will receive the assistance within this month," Diaz said, adding that the ongoing repair is being closely monitored to ensure that the materials given are being utilized.

Beneficiaries were based on the validated report of the barangay disaster coordinating council, Diaz said, in answer to queries why other typhoon victims were not given the same assistance.

"Red Cross comes in to help family victims of calamities cope-up from the situation. It is the government that provides the necessary assistance to victims on the first place. Red Cross enters to fill the gap when assistance is inadequate," Diaz said.

Meanwhile, the Social Action Commission of the Congregation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary based in England built seven houses for typhoon "Pepeng" victims in Laya West and Cabaruan here.

The Roman Catholic Sisters established partnership with the Red Cross here for the continuation of the charity project and identification of additional beneficiaries.

Alongside with the shelter assistance is the hygiene promotion project for 4,000 families in Pinukpuk, Tabuk, Rizal, Tanudan, and Tinglayan.

"Each identified family is given hygiene and cleaning kit, information and education campaign materials and health education," Diaz said.

The five municipality-recipients from the German Red Cross donation were selected based on the prevalence of illnesses during the past typhoons like diarrhea and dengue.

Provincial and municipal officials here thanked all organizations from different parts of the world that continuously provided various forms of assistance to calamity-stricken areas, saying the national and international donations serve as a big boost in uplifting the living condition of people who are trying to recover from the devastation of the recent typhoons that rendered them homeless. – Dexter A. See