TACLOBAN CITY, April 15 (PNA) -– The City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) will complete within this month the distribution of emergency shelter assistance (ESA) for families whose houses were partially damaged by the 2013 super typhoon.
Chona Bahin, assistant city CSWDO head, said that out of the 31,000 ESA family-beneficiaries, 22,000 families have already received the PHP10,000 cash assistance for partially damaged houses.
According to her, beneficiaries were prioritized based on the damaged report prepared by the village chiefs from 138 areas. These were validated by staff of the engineering office and CSWDO.
The city got PHP315 million for the ESA implementation sourced out from the calamity fund of the national government.
Bahin clarified that the Disaster Assistance and Family Access Card (DAFAC) is not a basis for the ESA distribution.
DAFAC is a card issued by the local government to disaster victims, indicating the general information of the family head and its members and the assistance provided to/received by the family from various groups.
Through the DAFAC, one can monitor if the family is underserved or overserved. It confirms that a family is a disaster victims and is eligible to receive relief assistance.
According to Bahin, the provision of assistance does not discriminate beneficiaries, but it has its policies and guidelines to follow for the effective implementation of its programs and services.
“The DSWD 8 has conducted orientations and discussions about the guidelines with the concerned affected local government units and another schedule has been set last March 2015 to help these LGUs explain the guidelines to the people,” she said.
In the guidelines, each family with totally damaged house gets PHP30,000 while those with partially destroyed house get PHP10,000.
Under ESA guidelines, only those who are most in need and have no immediate resources to rebuild their homes are entitled to receive the assistance.
The DSWD upheld its stand on not including those receiving a salary of more than PHP15,000 because they have the capacity to build on their own.
“Many are affected by Yolanda and CSWDO knows that the people will understand that those who do not have a regular source of livelihood need the shelter assistance the most,” she added. Likewise, those living in danger zones are also not included as beneficiaries, because they are being assisted by the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council.(PNA)
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