A PHP30 million housing project of the Iloilo provincial government will benefit 30 families exposed to natural or other kinds of hazards in the municipality of Batad.

“Purok Resilience is our socialized and localized housing program that is also a climate change response. Here in Batad, we have identified families living in landslide-prone. We want to transfer them to a safe area, which is not far from their sources of livelihood,” said Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr., who announced Wednesday its official launch in Barangay Nangka in Batad on Friday.

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)