15,576 Lawin victims get shelter assistance in full

A TOTAL of 15,576 households who have been victims of Typhoon Lawin have already received the full assistance provided under the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Emergency Shelter Cash Assistance Project (ESCAP).

After the onslaught of TY Lawin in the Cordillera Administrative Region, DSWD has released the initial assistance worth P5,000. For the full assistance, victims with partially damaged houses will receive an additional P5,000 and P25,000 for totally-damaged houses.

As of 23 October, there are 7,688 households in Abra, 2,166 in Apayao, 1,284 in Benguet, 736 in Ifugao, 2,971 in Kalinga and 731 households in Mountain Province which have received the shelter assistance in full.

A total of P304,875,000 of assistance have already been obligated for the distribution to the victims within the 4th quarter of 2017.

“We have already obligated around 300 million. However, our challenge remains on its distribution. We are really having a difficult time in processing the release since there are documents that need to be provided based on the guidelines. We do not want to release the assistance just for the sake of releasing it. We want to ensure that the assistance goes to the people

who really deserve it”, DSWD-CAR OIC regional director Janet Armas said.

Most of the households that are yet to receive the assistance are from the Province of Kalinga with 17,844 out of 20,815. This is followed by Apayao with 7,083 out of 9,249, Abra with 4,669 out of 12,357, Mt. Province with 591 out of 1,322, Benguet with 43 out of 1,327 and Ifugao with 35 out of 771 households.

Armas also asked the full cooperation and understanding of the beneficiaries and stakeholders involved in the implementation of ESCAP. She also reminded the beneficiaries to use the provided assistance for the repair of their houses.

“We would like to reiterate that the ESCAP should be used for the repair of the damaged houses and not for other purposes. The Department does not allow any transactions involving the ESCAP or the collection of fees under which for other purposes. Irregularities can be reported to our office through fo.car@dswd.gov.ph, dmudswd@gmail.com, +63949-141-7232 or +63906-094-1064,” Armas added.

Remaining assistance to TY Lawin victims are released only through Landbank cash cards. Nerizza Faye Villanueva