A month after a storm surge and powerful winds brought by super typhoon Yolanda devastated most of Tacloban City, ABS-CBNnews.com photographer Fernando Sepe, Jr. returned to the city he documented immediately after the disaster. Fernando Sepe, Jr., ABS-CBN News

MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte on Wednesday said he has approved the granting of free housing for victims of typhoons Pablo (Bopha) and Yolanda (Haiyan).

“Basta ako ang presidente, libre na iyan,” Duterte said in a speech at the housing summit of the National Housing Authority.

“Libre na lang iyan kasi wala naman talagang magbayad. Pilipino? Pag dating ng kolektor sabihin mo, kubrahin mo doon kay Duterte kung nasaan siya ngayon. Libre na para walang ano.”

Yolanda, one of the strongest typhoons to ever hit the Philippines, left over 200,000 families homeless and 7,350 people dead or missing when it hit central Visayas and other areas in 2013.

Pablo, on the other hand, left over 1,500 dead or missing when it smashed through Mindanao in 2012.

The NHA said a P50 billion budget is needed for the free housing program.

The NHA said the awarding of the house and lot titles come with conditions. One of these conditions is that the house owner is not allowed to sell the property to someone else. The property cannot also be used as a collateral.

According to the NHA, the government is now building 131,000 of the 205,000 homes for the Yolanda survivors.

The government is aiming to award these homes by the end of 2017. The rest of the houses that have yet to be built are being targeted for distribution by December 2018. - with a report from Zen Hernandez, ABS-CBN News