The Department of Social Welfare and Development Region V continues the distribution of the Emergency Shelter Assistance (ESA) to households in Bicol ravaged by Typhoon Nina in December 2016.

As of May 16, DSWD Region V had already distributed an initial payment of P5,000.00 each to 27,257 of the 53,244 totally damaged households.

ESA is the provision of emergency “self-build” shelter assistance through limited financial assistance in order to augment the resources of families affected by disasters. In particular, it enables them to purchase shelter materials required in constructing or repairing their damaged houses as a result of disasters.

Totally damaged households receive PhP30,000.00 each­ while those with partial or minor damages are given P10,000.00 each.

Dir. Arnel Garcia appeals to the public and to the ESA beneficiaries to stay patient and understand that DSWD is doing its best to extend aid to the affected families by ensuring that only legitimate beneficiaries receive the said funds.

The list of the ESA recipients was based on the terminal report submitted by the Local Government Units (LGUs) which was validated by the DSWD field workers in January and February this year.

The DSWD Region V is still waiting for the remaining balance to be downloaded from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM). As soon as funds become available, the remaining P25,000.00 per totally damaged household and P10,000.00 assistance to each partially damaged household will be distributed.