Capiz, July 21 2014 — On 20 and 23 June, technical assessments were conducted in Belle Village HOAI (Home Owners’ Association Inc.) community in the municipality of Pontevedra, Capiz.  Ninety-five households submitted applications for  reconstruction assistance.  UN-Habitat technical team visited each household to assess the extent of the damage, to check lot boundaries, and to interview the applicants about their current living conditions.

While some applicants temporarily live with relatives outside the community, many continue to live in their damaged homes after having done some repairs themselves with salvaged materials. Many of these repaired houses had not been built back safer and were found to be unsafe and unlikely to withstand future typhoons. In the case of Rogie Alcazaren in Belle Village III, his house was heavily damaged. Despite that, his family (with seven children) had no other option but to continue residing under their now slanted roof and whatever else was left of their house.

In Belle Village II, due to its low-lying location and lack of proper community infrastructure, footpaths to the houses are swampy, substantially compromising mobility for people. Improvement of community infrastructure such as drainages and paving the common foot path were identified as urgent issues.

So far, out of 2,430 families in 20 HOAI communities from 10 Barangays in Capiz and Iloilo Provinces, 331 families have submitted their applications to UN-Habitat and initial technical assessment and verification of potential beneficiaries were completed at 240 sites. Work is ongoing, and follow-up visits are required to help the HOAIs prepare their final list of qualified beneficiaries.