NHA gives P5-M aid to ‘Rosita’ victims

FILE: AID FOR ‘ROSITA’ VICTIMS. Mountain Province Governor Bonifacio Lacwasan receives the PHP5 million grant for the victims of Typhoon Rosita for the municipalities of Natonin and Paracelis from National Housing Authority (NHA) General Manager Marcelino Escalada Jr. Joining them in a simple ceremony is Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Assistant Secretary Marie Rafael. (Photo by Roy Allan Ven Perdon via National Housing Authority/Facebook)

MANILA — The National Housing Authority (NHA) on Monday provided financial aid worth PHP5 million for the victims of Typhoon Rosita in two towns of Mountain Province.

NHA General Manager Marcelino Escalada, Jr. said they will continue to supply disaster-stricken areas of the housing aid needed for them to recover from the damages brought about by the calamity.

“The victims may use this amount to finance for their roofing, lumber, and other matters needed to repair or refurbish their homes,” Escalada said in an interview after the signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) for the aid grant.

Mountain Province Governor Bonifacio Lacwasan, Jr., who received the grant, thanked NHA for the gesture.

The grant was given through NHA’s Housing Materials Assistance Program; Natonin town gets PHP3 million while the municipality of Paracelis receives PHP2 million.

According to the MOA signed by Escalada and Lacwasan, 589 families residing in different barangays in Natonin, and 400 families in Paracelis will benefit from the aid.

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has initially provided a total of PHP834,304.90 worth of assistance to the families affected in November 2018.

Meanwhile, the governor was also pleased with the PHP20 million budget approval for indigenous people’s housing in two barangays of the Otucan community.

Presidential Communications Operations Office Assistant Secretary Marie Rafael, an Igorot who hails from Baguio City, pushes for more financial support to indigenous peoples, seeing the need for such measure.