MANILA, (PNA) — Davao Oriental is making headway in rebuilding communities devastated by Typhoon “Pablo” in December 2012, Governor Corazon Malanyaon said on Wednesday.
“We are now in the reconstruction and rehabilitation stage. So much is going on there in Davao Oriental now, so parang alive na alive talaga ang tatlong towns. Everybody seems to have work. Everybody seems to be involved in all the activities,” Malanyaon said during a press briefing after paying a courtesy call on President Benigno S. Aquino III.
She was referring to the towns of Boston, Cateel, and Baganga, where about a thousand housing units are being turned over every 15 days.
“We hope to turn over at least 60 percent of the total housing requirement for our typhoon victims by the second anniversary of Typhoon Pablo in December,” she said, adding that they aim to build a total of 24,000 housing units for the victims.
The governor said they have also begun efforts to give the typhoon victims permanent livelihood in agriculture and fisheries.
“Nakikita ko talaga na everybody talagang nagtatrabaho. Everybody has been given the opportunity to earn income. Construction is a boom there. We are going to construct a lot of housing units, school buildings, barangay halls, ‘yung mga daycare center, and even mga infrastructure like roads, bridges, and all that,” she said.
Typhoon Pablo hit Davao Oriental on December 4, 2012, claiming hundreds of lives and displacing thousands of families. The typhoon also destroyed billions of pesos worth of infrastructure and properties.
The magnitude of the devastation prompted President Aquino to create a special task force led by Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras to facilitate a smooth disaster response mechanism for all the affected areas.
Last February, the people of Davao Oriental thanked President Aquino for mobilizing the entire national government machinery to address their urgent concerns following the onslaught of the Typhoon “Pablo”.