Sin, Cory to lead shelter inaugural

Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin and former President Corazon Aquino will lead today’s groundbreaking and inaugural construction of the Jubilee Homes for the Poor, a project to provide affordable shelter to low-income families.

Also to attend the rites at Pulang Lupa I in Las Piñas City are First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Secretary Mike Defensor, Sen. Manny Villar, Las Piñas Mayor Nene Aguilar, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president Archbishop Orlando Quevedo and Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.

An initial five houses are being constructed in Pulang Lupa I by volunteers from The Philippine STAR and United Coconut Planters Bank. Each two-story home will be built on a 50-square-meter lot.

Sin is the honorary chairman of the committee overseeing Jubilee Homes for the Poor, a joint project of the CBCP, Philippine Solidarity Fund and Habitat for Humanity.

Project spokesman Antonio de los Reyes said Jubilee Homes for the Poor is an expression of solidarity with the homeless, whom Pope John Paul II called "the poorest of the poor."

"It is especially meaningful because the project is a joint effort between the laity and the Catholic clergy, in direct response to the call of the Pope to welcome the springtime of Christianity," De los Reyes said.

Michelle Gotuaco-Yu of Jubilee Homes for the Poor said the Pulang Lupa I site will be able to accommodate up to 80 such homes, part of the project’s target of 600 units in Metro Manila over a period of three years.

Expected to benefit from the project are families earning below P3,000 a month. They will be paying a low monthly amortization of P850 for a period of 15 years.

Jubilee Homes for the Poor also hopes to build homes in other provinces as well as hospice care buildings to house the elderly and the sick.