DILG: Almost 3M households benefited from 1.278-B rehab projects for Yolanda-hit areas

Almost three million households have benefited from the P1.278 billion worth of repair and rehabilitation projects for Yolanda-hit areas, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Wednesday.

According to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, a total of 308 facilities have been rehabilitated under the first batch of the agency's Recovery Assistance for Yolanda (RAY) program. These include 98 civic centers, 103 municipal halls, 106 public markets as well as one DILG regional field office.

"With the completed municipal facilities, we are very optimistic that our new sets of municipal leaders in the Yolanda-affected areas can now provide normal government services to their constituents,” Año said.

“We also expect that there will be more vibrant buying and selling activities in the completed public markets as well as other events and gatherings in civic centers now that they have better and sturdier structures than before,” he added.

The DILG said the batch 1 of RAY covers the repair or rehabilitation of totally or partially damaged municipal facilities to facilitate the return to normalcy of government services and economic activities in Yolanda-affected areas. It is concentrated in Regions IV-B, V, VI, VII and VIII.

Año said the agency now shifts its focus in monitoring the ongoing barangay facilities and other government projects under the RAY Batch 2 and 3-A. — Anna Felicia Bajo/RSJ, GMA News