A total of 100 housing units have been turned over to members of the Ata Manobo tribe in Davao del Norte by the National Housing Authority-11.
The official turnover of the national government housing project in Sitio Maselong, Barangay Sto. Niño in Talaingod town on Aug. 20 was led by NHA General Manager Marcelino Escalada Jr..
“To our beneficiaries, please take care of your houses. These are decent-priced homes. But if you compare it with your previous houses, this is a lot better. This is our pamana (heritage) under the Duterte administration,” Escalada said in an interview.
Each “Balai Pig Imim’manan” unit is worth PHP200,000, has a floor area of 22.50 square meters, and with toilet and bath.
For the Ata Manobo tribe, their new village translates to “the house that they have been dreaming of”.
The Alsa Masa (masses arise) movement, an anti-communist group back in the 1980s, was said to have originated in Talaingod.
Two other housing projects in Talaingod, specifically in Sitio Paiton, Barangay Dagohoy with 102 housing units, and another in Sitio Gatong Barangay Palma Gil with 100 housing units, have already been built.
Under construction are four other housing projects in Sitio Lomondong Barangay Dagohoy; Sitio Cuyas and Sitio Basak in Barangay Sto Niño; and in Sitio Central Baugan in Barangay Palma Gil.
“I’d like to thank President Duterte for giving us these houses. We will longer get cold when it rains at night,” indigenous peoples beneficiary Lingonoy Sibugan said in the vernacular. (PNA)
