QUEZON CITY, (PIA) – The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) will provide P23-million worth of emergency assistance from its central office fund to help residents who have been affected by Super Typhoon Egay. 

DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar on Tuesday, August 1, called for an emergency meeting to issue a directive to expedite the release of cash assistance through Undersecretary Avelino Tolentino III and Undersecretary Randy Escolango who are tasked to download the funds to Regional Offices where the typhoon caused severe damage of property. 

"We must focus our efforts now in assisting families who lost their homes. Let's expedite the delivery dahil kailangan na ito agad," said the DHSUD chief. 

"Kailangan proactive lagi tayo sa pagtulong sa ating mga kababayan na naapektuhan ng bagyo...dapat maramdaman agad ang tulong at malasakit ng gobyerno (We must be proactive in terms of helping our fellow Filipinos who were affected by the typhoon, government response should be felt immediately)," he added.

Meanwhile, the National Housing Authority (NHA) is also allocating a P50-million fund from its emergency housing assistance program to aid in this provision. 

The Pag-IBIG Fund under the DHSUD likewise started to extend help to Egay victims by offering calamity loans with lower interest rates per annum. 

In addition, the DHSUD was able to distribute 1,086 shelter-grade tarpaulins and 600 solar lamps to affected residents together with the International Organization for Migration and the US Agency for International Development (USAID). 

To date, the DHSUD recorded a total of 1,954 residential structures that were damaged due to the typhoon mostly from Regions 1, 2, and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR). 

The agency expressed its commitment to continue working closely with the local government units in affected areas towards the timely and transparent delivery of the said financial assistance. (PIA-NCR)