Penablanca, Cagayan—Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Field Office O2 headed by Regional Director Violeta A. Cruz recently awarded 110 core shelter units amounting to P7.7 million in the municipality of Penablanca, Cagayan to families who are left homeless due to typhoons and other natural calamities.

Each core shelter unit is amounting to P70,000.00 per family beneficiary while the location site, engineering supervision, site development and graveling of road to core shelter site are provided by the Local Government Unit and to be augmented by the Provincial government.

Recipients of these core shelter units are families whose houses were totally blown down or damaged by natural calamities.

These core shelter units are structurally-strong and environment-friendly shelter units which can withstand 180 to 220 kilometer per hour wind, intensity four (4) earthquakes, flooding and other similar hazards. It is a rehabilitation and mitigation strategy that uses work teams composed of the beneficiaries themselves to provide labor for the construction of their houses.

In her message, Director Violeta Cruz encouraged the beneficiaries to love their homes, safeguard their community against crime and ensure that there would be no violence in every home. Director Cruz also emphasized that each family beneficiary should become responsive, mindful and caring towards his/her neighbor.

“The success of this project lies in your hands, therefore, together, let us help sustain the project and let us work hard to make this site become a model community for CSAP in Penablanca, Cagayan”, Director Cruz stressed.

Moreover, core shelter beneficiaries are organized into Neighborhood Association for Shelter Assistance (NASA), an association of the core shelter beneficiaries which promotes collective action in realizing the goals of the project. The association also addresses the vulnerabilities of the community while empowering beneficiaries to make the core shelter livable and more sustainable.

CSAP is one of the rehabilitation projects of the national government implemented by DSWD Field Office 02 to immediately provide shelter to disaster affected families whose houses were totally damaged and blown down.

In Region 2, a total of9,269core shelter units were already awarded to thousands of homeless families who are mostly victims of typhoons, flooding and other natural calamities.