GMA to award houses in Cavite

ROSARIO, Cavite — President Arroyo is expected to return here tomorrow to distribute certificates of occupancy and the actual keys to 141 out of 500 completed units to beneficiaries of the "GMA Abot-Kayang Pabahay at Palupa" program of Philippine National Oil Co. and its land development subsidiary PNOC Management and Development Corp. (PNOC-MDC).

PNOC president Thelmo Cunanan said the President’s return visit is concrete proof of the administration’s commitment to provide affordable housing and improve the lives of poor and marginalized families under its housing and poverty alleviation programs.

Cunanan said P100-million housing program will enable housing beneficiaries to pay a monthly amortization of only P990 for their housing units, significantly lower than current rental rates of P1,500 to P3,000 in the area.

Cunanan explained that the project was undertaken by virtue of Executive Order No. 59 which mandated PNOC to develop and dispose of 25 hectares of its properties for socialized housing to 3,500 informal dweller-households occupying PNOC properties in the old Filoil refinery site here.

According to Cirilo Martinez, president and chief executive officer of PNOC-MDC, more than 25 hectares of the 118-hectare Filoil property were earmarked for the socialized housing project.

He said the project is being implemented jointly with the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC); the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP); National Housing Authority (NHA); the local governments of Rosario and Noveleta, Cavite and non-government organization in the area.