To help the disaster-affected families acquire shelters, DSWD Field Office 1 awarded the Turnover of Responsibility and Acceptance Certificate to 104 Core Shelter Assistance Program (CSAP) beneficiaries in Vigan City and Caoayan, Ilocos Sur to families left homeless due to the effects of the typhoon in their area.

The turn-over ceremony kicked off with the blessing and ribbon cutting of shelters followed by the awarding and turnover of responsibility and certificate of occupancy to the Neighborhood Association for Shelter Assistance (NASA) Vigan City and Caoayan beneficiaries.

The beneficiaries of the housing program are families whose houses were destroyed during the onslaught of Typhoon Mario in 2014, and houses located within the danger zone as evaluated by the DENR-Mining and GeoSciences Bureau who belong below the poverty line.

DSWD shouldered the material cost of the core units, while the Local Government Units (LGUs), as their counterparts, hired workers to build the houses and provided means for the enhancement of the shelter houses.

The awarding ceremony was witnessed by the officials of the City Government of Vigan, LGU Caoayan, NASA beneficiaries, and DSWD Field Office 1 staff led by the Regional Director Marie Angela S. Gopalan.

CSAP is an intervention of the DSWD to assist disaster-affected families in acquiring decent shelters. Recent data shows that from 2015 to the present, a total of 354 shelter units were completed and turned over to beneficiaries in the Province of Ilocos Sur.

The said project is currently in the transition period to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development as the lead Agency for the Shelter Cluster. By: Nicole Kasandra A. Lipawen, Information Officer II – Disaster Response Management Division