Urban poor in Mandaue to mark Solidarity Week

CEBU, Philippines - To mark the 23rd Solidarity Week, different urban poor organizations in Mandaue City will hold day-long activities on December 11.

Cynthia Suico, the Community Affairs Officer of the Housing and Urban Development Office (HUDO), in press conference, said that among the highlights of the celebration is the blessing and turnover of the model duplex house at the Paknaan relocation site to the 1,260 beneficiaries.

Suico said the houses will have the same design.

The houses are made of inter-connected earth blocks (ICEB) which the beneficiaries made themselves and the construction of the houses will be done through "bayanihan."

Suico also said the Solidarity Week, as the name implies, was marked by housing associations in the city for one whole week, but since most HUDO officials and the beneficiaries themselves are busy with their transfer to the relocation site, they decided to make it just a whole day affair that included tree planting, playing games, clean-up operations, and conducting a medical mission.

Of the 1,260 beneficiaries, 60 of them are scheduled to transfer next week.  (FREEMAN)