Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles praised the “Yolanda” permanent resettlement site in Tabuelan town in northern Cebu as the first-ever housing project that is fully finished and occupied.
“We can show to the whole country that Olivo Heights housing in Tabuelan is now the model of all ‘Yolanda’ housing projects in the country as it is 100 percent completed and occupied by the beneficiaries,” Nograles said in his message delivered in Cebuano during the turnover ceremony the National Housing Authority (NHA-7) in Cebu City.
The Palace official, who heads the Yolanda Inter-Agency Task Force, vowed to finish all Yolanda housing projects by 2020, saying the intention of President Rodrigo Duterte is to have all the housing units turned over and occupied by next year.
“I will see to it that once the housing units are turned over, the permanent resettlement sites are complete with amenities.”
He said he will see to it that once the housing units are turned over, the permanent resettlement sites are complete with amenities such as water and power connection, as well as facilities for the settlers such as schools, day-care centers and a livelihood center.
Nograles witnessed the turnover of certificates of award to 15 of the 220 beneficiaries of the Olivo Heights NHA-Yolanda Permanent Housing Program.
“The awarding is in line with the Nov. 8 commemoration of Super Typhoon Yolanda that hit Western Visayas in 2013.”
Constancio Antiniero, district manager of NHA-Cebu District Office, said the awarding was in line with the Nov. 8 commemoration of Super Typhoon Yolanda that hit Western Visayas in 2013.
“Actually, Tabuelan is a recipient of 220 housing units completed last year. Now, the units have been already occupied. But the formal turnover (of the title or certificates) will be conducted very soon, because we are still waiting for the certificate of titles to be released by the Registry of Deeds,” Antiniero told the Philippine News Agency (PNA).
Around 205 certificates are set to be turned over in the first quarter of next year, he said.
The Tabuelan project is just part of the first 37 housing projects the NHA has allocated for Yolanda victims in Central Visayas, while 24 other housing projects are still in the land development phase and are projected to be finished by 2020, he said.
Antiniero said the housing project consists of a house and lot package which the NHA buys from the developer for PHP290,000 per unit with a 40-square meter floor area.
The beneficiaries cannot sell their house within 20 years after the award.
“What we want to extend to the beneficiaries they have to feel the sense or responsibility of their free house and lot, which when you have to purchase it, it is around a million. Local government units will annotate on the certificate of titles that they (beneficiaries) cannot sell it for the period of 20 years,” Antiniero said.