By Perla Lena
ILOILO CITY – The Iloilo provincial government’s PHP30 million housing initiative will provide assistance to 30 families residing in hazard-prone areas within the municipality of Batad.
Dubbed as the ‘Purok Resilience,’ this housing program is tailored to address localized challenges and serve as a climate change mitigation measure. Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. of Iloilo highlighted the program’s focus on relocating families residing in landslide-prone zones to safer areas, ensuring proximity to their livelihood sources. The official launch of the program is scheduled for Friday in Barangay Nangka, Batad, as announced by the governor on Wednesday.
It is localized because it is only at the barangay level and socialized because the beneficiaries are those with no houses of their own and living in danger-prone areas.
Defensor said based on experience, it is better if the housing project is not far from their sources of livelihood.
He said the provincial government would work with the United Nations Habitat for Humanity and other partners to implement the small-scale program.
The local government, according to the governor, is ready with the lot for the project site.
After the Batad project, the provincial government will continue looking for other areas.
“We have a design for that. We will see how it develops,” he added.
Executive Order 333, signed by the governor in 2022, mandated the establishment of the project. (PNA)
