By May Grecia-Rago, DSWD Regional Information Officer

HE wore a loose grey shirt and a tranquil face while sitting on a wooden stage set for the formal turn-over of houses that was about to happen in Brgy. Pawa, Panay, Capiz.

When I asked him where his house is, he pointed me to the rightmost shelter, beside the stage. It had a label placed adjacent to the door knob which showed his name boldly printed “Ramir Barrera.”

Thirty-nine-year-old Ramir happily showed to me his new home where he, his wife Emilyn and their two children will be staying for good.

“We are really grateful for the house given to us,” he said.

Just a few meters from Ramir was a young mother cuddling her baby. She told me that her name is May Deleona and said, “Grabe gid ang pasalamat namon Ma’am kay nakabalay kami. Ang amon balay totally gid, gin ubos gid ni Yolanda guba (We are very thankful because now we already have a house. Our house before was totally washed out by typhoon Yolanda.”

May, 23 years old, has a child, six-month-old Nathan Lance, with her common-law husband Frances Archivo. The young couple has not been married yet but hopes that one day, they will tie a knot to bless their union.

About seven meters away from May, I saw a group of women who seemed to have made the grounds of Brgy. Pawa as a place where they could chat from time to time.

The group was composed of Nora Vegas, Ma. Christina Veloso who was carrying her nephew JL, and Cherryl Barrera. When I approached them, Nora said, “Indi gid kami maka-balay sang amo sini ka dalagku kun wala sa inyo bulig. Ang amon mga hayob hayob sang una nagkala-washout gid (Building a house this big would not be possible if you (referring to DSWD, UN Habitat and partners) did not help us. Our small huts were totally washed out).”

They were only part of the 660 homeowners coming from Capiz and Iloilo who recently received their Certificates of Occupancy from the UN Habitat with funding from the People of Japan, which implemented the Post Yolanda Support for Safer Homes and Settlements Project in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Housing and Urban Development Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) and Base Bahay, Inc.

The houses are located in Panay, Pontevedra and Roxas City, all in Capiz; and Estancia, Iloilo.

The DSWD gave P42.7 million as a counterpart to the project, specifically at P70,000 each for 610 families, under its Core Shelter Assistance Program (CSAP).