500 more title holders in Las Piñas City

Dreams have come true for more than 500 underprivileged families of Villa Pangarap Talon Cinco, Las Piñas City after Mayor Vergel "Nene" Aguilar awarded them with land certificates.

Earlier, more than 1,000 families from Barangays CAA and Manuyo II were also granted land certificates.

The awarding of certificates to Las Piñas’ informal squatters is part of the continuing urban poor renewal and development program of the city government through the implementation of the Community Mortgage Program (CMP) facilitated by the Las Piñas City Urban Poor Affairs Office.

Aguilar said apart from his efforts to develop the depressed areas into a subdivision-like community, the city government is also providing the city’s informal settlers free hospitalization, free health care, livelihood training and opportunities and free college education to their children.

The mayor further explained that awarding of land certificates to remaining beneficiaries is still being processed, and that by the year 2004, the rest of the families will no longer be called "informal settlers" but legitimate residents of Las Piñas.

Rene Dumlao, head of the City’s Urban Poor Affairs Office, said since 1995, more than 20,000 economically-disadvantaged families in the city have benefited from the urban poor renewal and development program of the Aguilar administration.

Aguilar vowed to accomplish by year 2004 his target of 99 percent poverty reduction and alleviation and the development of all the depressed areas into subdivision-like communities.