Work on housing units begins Nov.

CEBU, Philippines - One hundred seventy-two families in Cebu City will soon find themselves a home once the proposed two condominium-style housing units will rise in Barangay Lorega.

Yesterday, Atty. Collin Rosell of the city’s Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor said that the buildings, which will be constructed starting November, may be ready for use by May next year. The project will use the P78-million loan from the National Housing Authority (NHA).

There are at least 30,000 homeless families in the city.

Rosell said the loanable amount is now P22 million short after the previous administration reportedly gave consent to the NHA to utilize the said amount for a housing project in Barangay Budlaan.

The two four-story buildings, which will occupy 1,000-square meter each of the 12,000-square-meter Lorega public cemetery, will have 86 units each. The cemetery has been closed since 2009. The human bones there will be transferred to private graveyards.

Roselle explained that the condo-type design is purposely to give some dignity to the life of the future occupants. The former residents from the Mahiga Creek were the supposed beneficiaries of these units, but since they have already been moved to the relocation site in Barangay Budlaan after spending some months at Block 27 at the North Reclamation Area shortly after their houses in Mahiga were demolished, the city will then pick only 172 families.

Rosell clarified, however, that the monthly amortization will still be as affordable: about P1,000 to P2,000, depending on the unit. Each unit will occupy a 25-square-meter floor area.

Meanwhile, Rosell said 36 beneficiaries have already been screened, while 605 applicants will undergo screening soon.

Rosell said the city is set to acquire more properties to be converted into relocation sites. A Frontier Bank lot in Barangay Binaliw worth P16.9 million; a Veterans Bank property in Basak Cabreros worth P4.5 million; a property in Barangay Tisa worth P720,800; and a parcel of lot in Bugnay II, Labangon worth P1M are among properties the city government wants to purchase.     - THE FREEMAN