Mandaue turns over houses to squatters

CEBU, Philippines - Twelve houses were recently turned over to former urban poor settlers in Mandaue City.

These houses stand in the same area where the settlers who are members of the Malibu-Matimco Village Homeowners Association, Inc. (MMVHAI) have been residing for more than a decade.

Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes and Philippine Action for Community-led Shelter Initiative, Inc. (PACSI) executive director Fr. Roberto Carcellar, turned over last Sunday the houses to the beneficiaries who belong to the first batch of beneficiaries.

It is one of the many similar projects located within the 9.2 hectare city-owned lot located in the heart of a commercial district.

In light of its high commercial value, the previous administration planned to sell the area to a businessman and relocate the squatters occupying the lot somewhere else.

But with the insistence of incumbent Mayor Cortes in donating the lot for an on-site housing project and with the assistance of PACSI, the project was finally implemented, the second of its kind within the 9.2 hectare lot.   — THE FREEMAN