Bauko folks affected by calamities given houses

BAUKO, Mountain Province – Many families here affected by calamities like landslides have already been given houses by the government. 

National Economic and Development Authority-Cordillera  regional director Milagros Rimando recently visited this town and discussed the status of the  Core Shelter Assistance Project (CSAP) of the Department of Social Welfare and Development  with Mayor Abraham Akilit and the Neighborhood Association for Shelter Assistance (NASA), the organization of the project’s beneficiaries, represented by Gabriel Pocais.

CSAP aims to grant indigent families who have been residing in hazardous areas classified by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, as well as those who may have been afflicted by previous natural disasters.

There are 355 units for the said project at Kalimbatawa relocation site in barangay Otucan Sur, Bauko, of which 200 are already done and were turned over to the beneficiaries.  Sixty five families have already occupied their respective units.

 Moreover, electricity from the Mountain Province Electric Cooperative  is delivered to 35 families. The abandoned water spring rehabilitated by NASA in 2012 now distributes water to the houses.

 The DSWD noted that there is a strong bayanihan of the families in the site. They undergo social preparation through meetings and organization of committees.

If the beneficiaries incur violations for not attending meetings, not joining bayanihan, being late as well as drinking liquors, penalty is collected and the money goes to the budget for the pipeline.

According to the beneficiaries, they feel safe and are not worried to sleep in their new homes  even if there is a typhoon.

 The beneficiaries  are those whose houses are located within the sinking area in Otucan, Bauko.