Cebu City council gives go-signal for housing project

CEBU CITY — The city council has approved a resolution allowing the city government to purchase a 2,207-square-meter property for its socialized housing program.

However, a corollary motion was passed to include a proviso in the deed of sale that persons who are beneficiaries of other socialized housing programs will be excluded from the project.

The city council gave the mayor the authority to enter into and sign the deed of sale in behalf of the city government for the transfer of ownership of the lot owned by the Borromeo Brothers Estate Inc. along Panganiban Street in Barangay Pahina Central.

The city will be purchasing the lot at a total cost of P1.6 million for the 64 onsite occupants of the Balagtas Panganiban Homeowners Association (Bapahoa).

Yet from among the list of members of the association, Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera noted that Genara Diaz’s husband, Roque, is already a member of the Sanciangko Homeowners Association, a recipient of another low-cost housing program.

This prompted Pesquera to suggest the deferment of the approval of the resolution allowing the execution of the deed of sale.

"It would be better to look first into the list of beneficiaries. This (could) again be another source of anomaly," Pesquera said.

But while Carillo, chairman of the committee on social services and the proponent of the resolution, agreed with Pesquera’s view, he said it would jeopardize and delay the entire project.

Carillo instead moved for the approval of the measure while the Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor verifies the status of the would-be beneficiaries.

With the suggestion of putting a proviso in the deed of sale and in the memorandum of agreement to be later executed by Bapaboa and the city government disqualifying beneficiaries of other low-cost housing projects, Pesquera moved for the withdrawal of her motion deferring the approval of the resolution.

As such, the problem was resolved and the city council approved the resolution without necessarily going through the voting process.

Carillo said the city government will be able to avail itself of a 10 percent discount of the total lot price if it immediately pays the property owner.

Beneficiaries of the new housing project will pay the city for 10 years at an annual interest of nine percent under the loan apportionment resettlement program. — Freeman News Service