MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) is preparing post-disaster assistance to residents whose houses were damaged by Severe Tropical Storm Crising.
DHSUD Undersecretary for Disaster Response Henry Yap said that the agency instructed the regional offices (ROs) in Crising-affected areas to work closely with local government units (LGUs) and other state agencies for the delivery of post-disaster assistance.
At the same time, the DHSUD official called on key shelter agencies — the Pag-IBIG Fund, Social Housing Finance Corporation, the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation and the National Housing Authority — to also extend assistance to the victims.
“[In accordance with] the directive of Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling, DHSUD’s key shelter agencies are to exhaust all ways on how to assist the typhoon victims, and to immediately implement the same at the soonest possible time,” Yap said.
“This may include amortization relief/breaks, community assistance on resettlement and project sites, provision of hygiene kits,” he added.
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On Saturday, the Department of Social Welfare and Development reported that the severe tropical storm battered 356 houses, of which 49 were totally destroyed.
“All ROs in the typhoon-affected areas are directed to actively engage LGUs and other partner-agencies, and convene your respective shelter clusters immediately to determine the extent of assistance necessary,” Yap said.
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As head of the Shelter Cluster, the DHSUD has been tasked to be proactive for the timely delivery of post-disaster assistance.
In collaboration with non-government organizations, the housing agency can also deploy shelter-grade tents that may be used as temporary shelters by the victims.
Yap said that the DHSUD has launched its Integrated Disaster Shelter Assistance Program, which provides unconditional cash assistance of P30,000 for families whose houses were totally damaged and P10,000 for those whose homes were partially damaged due to natural or human-induced disasters.
