Taliptip residents look forward to start a new and better life
Fishpond workers living in the coastal village of Taliptip in Bulacan have voluntarily given up their houses, mostly on stilts, to avail of financial assistance from San Miguel Corporation (SMC) and allow them to rebuild their lives inland and in their respective provinces.
On top of the amount, SMC will provide skills training to coastal settlers through the Technical Skills Development Authority (Tesda).
With this, residents are looking forward to better living conditions after years of staying at the coastal area often inundated by flood waters damaging their houses and affecting their families.
These residents of nine sitios comprising Barangay Taliptip thanked SMC for providing them start-up capital and helping them move to safer ground to pave the way for an airport development plan that is seen to revive the province and the country’s economy reeling from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rodnan Sampani of Sitio Camansi and Roberto Panganiban of Sitio Capol said they were reluctant to leave at first, but following lengthy consultations and discussions with local officials and the assurance of SMC representatives, they willingly decided to vacate the area.
The owners of non-concrete houses or shanties were given P250,000 each while concrete houses were given the appraised value of their houses multiplied twice plus P100,000.
Both owners of non-concrete and concrete houses will also get the appraised value share for the chapels in their areas as requested by Bishop Dennis Villarojo of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Malolos.
Apart from the financial assistance, the residents will also avail of support from the Technical Skills Development Authority (Tesda), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and Bulakan LGU.
A total of 277 houseowners from the area were qualified for cash assistance and 80 percent have already vacated the Taliptip site.
A number of the residents opted to remain in Bulacan province, like Avelino Valiente of Sitio Bunutan who is moving to Calumpit while Erlinda Libao’s family is setting up a new home in Bambang.
Others went back to their provinces, namely Samar, Negros, Nueva Ecija, Sorsogon, Mindoro, Masbate, Camarines Sur, Malabon, Bataan Valenzuela, Paranaque, Dumaguete, and Albay.
Source: TheManila Times
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