Chrysee Samillano (The Visayan Daily Star)
Victorias Mayor Francis Frederick Palanca announced the opening of the Villa Victorias resettlement area in Brgy. 13, Victorias City, Negros Occidental, for families affected by Typhoon Yolanda.
Palanca said Victorias has been allocated 2,321 housing units from the National Housing Authority under the Yolanda Resettlement Program.
Based on the National Economic Development Authority report, there are 27,055 targeted resettlement units to be built in the Negros Island.
The housing units allocated for Cadiz City are 8,742, Escalante City – 2,018, Manapla – 2,964, Sagay City – 7,850, Silay City – 1,992, EB Magalona – 1,168, and Victorias City – 2,321.
Palanca, however, said the only problem is that the national government has not yet put up a school in the resettlement area in Victorias so that students of relocated families will not be dislocated.
So he is asking the Department of Education and the NHA to put their acts together so that the students can continue their studies and not be displaced, he said.
“They asked us to hurry, but at the same time, we have no control over the classrooms and DepEd budget,” Palanca said.
What they did during the last month of classes was to put up Alternative Learning System and held classes in houses that were not yet occupied and assigned ALS teachers, he said.
But they hope the DepEd school will be constructed soon because it has the budget, he added.
Palanca said they have relocated nine families, whose houses were destroyed by fire, and those whose houses were destroyed by wave surge.
The Yolanda houses, however, have no electricity and water connection yet, he said.
Palanca said Victorias is not yet ready, but they just started to build Yolanda houses in Iloilo.
He also said they have 10 hectares for the construction of Habitat for Humanity houses, in partnership with the Victorias Milling Company.*