The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), in coordination with the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), turned over 184 core shelter units to families left homeless due to flooding in Botolan, Zambales.

The units were constructed through the collaborative project of DSWD and AFP dubbed “KiSLAP ng CSAP (Kikilos ang Sandatahang Lakas, Aagapay sa Pabahay ng CSAP).”

 CSAP or Core Shelter Assistance Program provides disaster-affected families with environment-friendly and structurally strong housing units that can withstand 220 kph wind velocity, earthquakes up to intensity 4 in the Richter scale, and other similar natural hazards. The housing units are built in relocation sites identified by the local government units (LGUs).

Beneficiaries of the housing program are families whose houses were destroyed during the onslaught of Typhoon Kiko in 2009.

In March 2017, after the LGU of Botolan identified a safe relocation site at Kainomayan Village, the construction of the shelter units started. In an effort to fast-track the construction, DSWD tapped the help of AFP personnel who continued building the homes in February 2019.

DSWD covered the material cost for the units while AFP deployed additional manpower from their engineering battalion as augmentation support to the workers hired by the LGU to build the houses.

 Four months after the construction was completed, DSWD Secretary Rolando Joselito D. Bautista distributed the Certificates of Ownership to the beneficiaries during a turn over ceremony last month.

Secretary Bautista thanked all the agencies and partners who helped in the completion of the housing program.

 He said that the KiSLAP ng CSAP could not have been possible without the help of the AFP.

   The awarding ceremony was also graced by the members of Neighborhood Association of Core Shelter Assistance Beneficiaries of Botolan and officials and staff from the Philippine Army, DSWD, and the LGU of Botolan, Zambales.

“Sa mga kakababayan namin na matiyaga at masigasig na naghintay para sa araw na ito, malugod po naming ipinababatid sa inyo na ngayong araw ito ay mayroon na kayong ligtas at payapang masisilungan kasama ng inyong buong pamilya,” the Secretary ended.