Two buildings rising at Lorega cemetery

CEBU, Philippines - Two medium-rise buildings worth P87 million that would serve as relocation for the danger zones dwellers in Cebu City would soon rise at the old Lorega Cemetery.

This, after the Cebu City council on Wednesday passed a measure authorizing Mayor Michael Rama to enter into and sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the National Housing Authority (NHA) for the City to avail of a P78-million loan from NHA’s Poverty Alleviation Fund.

A City Council endorsement is one of the requirements for NHA to release the amount. The City would also set aside more than P10 million as counterpart amount for site development.

City Councilor Alvin Dizon, committee on housing chairperson who authored the measure, said the “city need to apply for the loan before the end of the year; otherwise the amount under the Poverty Alleviation Fund will revert back to the national government.”

The four-story buildings would be named “One Plumeria Residences,” a name derived from the flowers that grow abundantly in the area.

It is considered as a concrete model of the City’s reformed socialized housing program, which aims to “transform urban poor communities to aspiring sector of society.”

The reformed socialized housing program involves the establishment of relocation sites, on or away from the present location of informal settlers living areas affected by infrastructure development or are living in danger zones such as, creeks, riverbanks, landslide-prone areas, among others.

The two buildings would be constructed on a portion of a 9,332-square-meter cemetery lot and includes land improvements like a concrete road and a path walk; underground drainage and culverts; collective septic vaults for sewerage treatment; water system, including an overhead tank and rainwater catchment tank; and electrical facilities with individual metering for each dwelling unit.

The buildings would have a total floor area of 2880 square meters and would comprise 87 dwelling units with 25.5 square meters in floor area for each unit and accommodate 174 families.

Prospective beneficiaries are qualified informal settlers, especially those occupying danger zones and waterways in Cebu, especially families living within the three-meter easement along the Mahiga Creek.

“These families are always in fear of being swept away by surging waters when there is unabated rainfall,” he said.

The beneficiaries are to pay the City monthly rental, which would vary depending on the floor they would occupy. For the fourth floor, rent is P2,000; third, P2,300; second, P2,500; ground floor, P2,800.

When City Councilor Mary Ann Delos Santos asked why the rent is not the same, City Councilor Gerardo Carillo said those who would occupy the first floors have the opportunity to engage in economic or livelihood activities.

City Division for the Welfare of Urban Poor (DWUP) Chief Collin Rosell said 70 percent of the people living along the Mahiga Creek can afford to pay rent of up to P6,000.  This is based on the socio-economic survey and feasibility study DWUP conducted.

He said that the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-Ibig) also established in a separate interview that the residents could pay P1,000 to P2,900 in rent.

Based on the terms and conditions, beneficiaries who fail to pay regularly either the monthly rental or amortization would be told to vacate their housing units. Those who have six months arrears are considered in default.

Dizon is confident the relocation site would become a way to organize and empower the beneficiaries.

“The communities would undergo transformation. Through the development process, they would become self-reliant, self-managing, self-propelled, and become partners of development and catalysts of development, not just mere recipients of development,” he said.—/RHM (FREEMAN)