500 poor QC families to get houses

Manila, Philippines - The Quezon City government is set to award housing units to around 500 illegal settlers living near waterways, roads, underneath power transmission lines and on top of water pipelines, an official said yesterday.

Mayor Herbert Bautista said the city government’s move is in line with its plan to develop two new major housing projects this year to address the problem of urban settlement in the city. The city government has acquired a 1.58- hectare site in Barangay Payatas for the project.

“At the same time, the city government will invest P23 million for the construction of roads, drains, streetlights and other infrastructure works in the so-called QC eco-village,” Bautista said. This developed after Bautista signed a memorandum of agreement with Pag-Ibig Fund chairwoman Darlene Marie Berberabe and Habitat for Humanity managing director Ricardo Jacinto for the city’s socialized housing and resettlement program.

The signing of agreement coincided with the first meeting of the newly created Quezon City Housing Board led by Bautista as chairman, Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte as vice chair, Councilors Jesus Suntay and Eufemio Lagumbay as members, the city’s Urban Poor Affairs Office as secretariat, and urban poor organizations.

The Pag-Ibig Fund is set to provide an easy financing scheme for the beneficiaries over a 30-year period with an average P2,000 monthly amortization. The Habitat for Humanity, on the other hand, is committed to assist in the construction, as well as in sourcing additional funds for the housing units.

Beneficiaries will include the city’s homeless public school teachers and informal settler families.