Two years after Governor Rodolfo del Rosario announced the inclusion of housing in his development agenda, a total of 4.7 hectares were distributed recently to the urban poor of Tagum City.
“This is a demonstration of the power of people’s organization like SaMUPHAI in pushing for a common goal,” said Del Rosario in his message during the weekly convocation of provincial employees at the Bulwagan ng Lalawigan, Tagum City.
On the same day, 343 lots ranging from 80 to 120 square meters each were distributed to the 339 members of SaMUPHAI (San Miguel Urban Poor Homeowners Association, Inc.), Our Lady of Fatima Urban Poor Homeowners Association, Inc. (OLFUPHAI) and St. Joseph Urban Poor Homeowners Association, Inc. (SJUPHAI).
The land, located at Brgy. Cuambogan, Tagum City, was bought by the province with money from the P6.1-million fund from the National Housing Authority (NHA) through the initiative of former first district congressman Arrel Olaño.
Meanwhile, Engr. Carolina Angel, OIC region 11 director of NHA, who was guest speaker at the convocation, urged all local government units (LGUs) to avail of the government’s housing program.
“National Housing Authority (NHA) is one of the agencies under the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) which is headed by Vice President Jejomar Binay, a former mayor of Makati City,” said Angel in her speech, adding that efforts of the HUDCC are geared towards empowering LGUs, on housing. “We continue to commit to you that we will be your partner all the way.”
To date, NHA has already built 4,164 housing units in Davao del Norte since 1994 and is currently implementing the regional resettlement program as one of Binay’s major programs.
“We are lucky in Mindanao for we are given a minimum appropriation of P300-million and we are allowed to go up to P500-million,” said Angel. “The LGUs can tap these funds at P3.5-million per hectare” provided that the LGUs meet the qualifications,” she added.
The qualifications include property titled in the name of the LGU intended for housing, an existing local housing board, and a list of legitimate beneficiaries reflected in the LGU’s inventory as socialized housing beneficiaries.
In an interview, Shirley Angeles, head of the provincial government’s Housing and Homesite Regulation Division (HHRD), said the province will conduct seminars to help all the LGUs of Davao del Norte comply with the requirements and avail of the program. As to the recently awarded homeowners, Angeles assured a hands-on assistance for the development of the area. [MGrace Apuya/PIO]
“Through HHRD (which is a newly created division), I hope this is the beginning of our strong determination to accommodate or be able to address the housing problem of our people in this province,” said Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario. “We have a vast land area (for housing). We just have to make sure that the program goes to our poor constituents who need it most.”
