At least 133 houses were turned over to families badly hit by super typhoon Yolanda in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) reported on Wednesday.

DSWD Assistant Secretary Rodolfo Encabo, Regional Director Grace Subong, and Guiuan Mayor Annaliza Gonzales Kwan led the turnover to 133 families at the town hall on Wednesday after five years of construction.

“These homes are part of DSWD’s Modified Core Shelter Assistance Project for families who were completely homeless during typhoon Yolanda,” Subong said in a statement posted at the agency’s officials Facebook page.

According to DSWD, these families lived in tent cities, campsites, and bunkhouses for a year before they were given transitional shelters in 2014 from the International Organization for Migration.

After a year, these transitional shelters were damaged by Typhoon Ruby.

To meet the need of these families for permanent shelter, DSWD and LGU have worked together to build concrete houses that started in 2016 in Cogon village and some completed houses were turned over in 2017.

All houses became fully completed on Nov. 17, 2021.

Each unit has a floor area of 18 square meters with a cost of PHP101,204.

Overall, the DSWD spent PHP13.71 million for the entire project, including the PHP1,950 cash-for-work paid to beneficiaries of each housing unit.

The local government has allotted PHP7.89 million for materials and work, while the National Housing Authority (NHA) carried out the site development under the Resettlement Assistance Program to the local government unit.

“Yolanda” made its first landfall in Guiuan town on Nov. 8, 2013 and flattened the town with a combination of winds almost hitting 230 kilometers per hour. (PNA)