BOTOLAN, Zambales – Some 184 households received shelter units from the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) recently.
The beneficiaries were those affected by heavy rainfalls brought by Typhoon Kiko 10 years ago which devastated the municipality of Botolan. The increase of water level caused the earth dike in Bukaw River to breach, flooding the neighbouring barangays. Thousands of individuals were affected and hundreds of houses were damaged.
The DSWD initiated programs and services for the early recovery and rehabilitation of the affected families, and one of these is the Core Shelter Assistance Program (CSAP).
The CSAP aims to provide resilient and hazard-free houses. This program is a partnership project between two parties: the DSWD covered the material cost, while the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Botolan provided the relocation site, at Kalib-ungan Resettlement.
However, due to the hazardous geographic location, the LGU identified a new site for the relocation, at Kainomayan Village.
The construction in Kainomayan Village began last March 2017. Because of delays in the completion of the project, a partnership between DSWD and AFP was initiated. Through KiSLAP ng CSAP, AFP deployed additional staff from the Engineering Battalion to support in the construction of the core shelter units.
Construction began on February 2, 2019. Two months later, all of the remaining units were already completed.
According to DSWD Secretary Rolando Bautista, "Sa mga kababayan natin na matiyaga at naghintay para sa araw na ito, malugod po namin ipinapabatid sa inyo na ngayong araw na ito ay mayroon na kayong ligtas at payapang masisilungan kasama ang inyong pamilya." (PR)