THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is set to provide Emergency Shelter Assistance to families severely affected by the 6.1 magnitude earthquake that hit the region on April 22.

Based on the validation conducted by DSWD personnel, a total of 3,135 houses in the region were damaged as a result of the earthquake, wherein 905 were destroyed and 2,230 were damaged.

“Most of these damaged houses are from the province of Pampanga, specifically Porac town with 653 totally damaged and 1,259 partially damaged houses,” DSWD Central Luzon director Gemma Gabuya said.

Gabuya said families with destroyed houses will receive P30,000 while those with damaged houses will receive P10,000.

“Aside from this, our beneficiaries will also be subjected to 10 days cash for work for those with totally damaged houses and 5 days for those with partially damaged houses. The rate of our cash for work in Central Luzon is P300 per day,” Gabuya said.

Prior to this, DSWD already provided a total of P2.45 million worth of assistance to more than 5,000 families affected by the earthquake.

DSWD staff were also deployed to affected areas to conduct validation of reported damaged houses, as well as provide psycho-social support.