93-1 residents given another month to apply for loan

CEBU, Philippines — Occupants of the 93-1 lots have been given another extension by the Cebu provincial government to apply and process their loan application to the Home Development Mutual Fund or the Pag-IBIG Fund.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia gave them a month or until August 8 to process the loan after some of the occupants were not able to submit on the supposed deadline last July 2.

During their July 4 meeting at the Capitol, some occupants of the lot disclosed to the governor that technical and legal concerns were the reasons behind their failure to submit on the given date.

Aside from the tax clearance concerns, the homeowner’s association occupying the lots failed to comply with the 1.5-meter requirements for alleys.

Another concern of the occupants is if there’s delinquency in paying the monthly dues.

Miram Loren, the housing relationship officer of Pag-IBIG said that in applying for the housing loan, the agency would make an appraisal of the property and evaluate the capacity of the borrower to pay the dues based on the presented documents.

“So karon kun ugaling mahitabo man galing na ..kung tulo ka successive months, dili mo kabayad i-endorse namo na siya for closure, but duna tay mga standby home savers program because si Pag-IBIG dili sad gusto nga mag-imbargo pud mi og property,” said Loren.

“Kay it’s another problem namo kay we are not in the business of selling houses sa katong mga nanag-acquire namo kay moagi pa na og bidding. So naa mi home savers program like penalty condonation, mga reconstructing program,” she explained.

According to Loren, surrendering the property due to failure to pay the monthly dues would be the last resort as there are remedies set by the agency.

With these concerns, acting Mayor Raymond Garcia pleaded to the Governor for an extension giving enough time to resolve the issues raised.

Acting Mayor Garcia told the occupants that his office is ready to render free legal services to them like drafting SPAs and notarial services for them to proceed with their application.

The occupants’ application for the housing loan is considered by the province as their willingness to pay and fully own the lots they are occupying which are currently titled under the Cebu Province.

The 93-1 lots are a provincial ordinance passed in 1993 that covers 51 hectares of property located in at least 11 barangays in Cebu City. These lots are spread in the barangays of Busay, Luz, Lahug, Mabolo, Apas, Lorega, Kasambagan, Capitol Site, Tejero, Kamputhaw, occupied by over 5, 000 residents of the city.

The Capitol decided to sell these lots to the occupants through Pag-IBIG Mutual Fund. — /ATO (FREEMAN)