Carreta demolition stopped

CEBU, Philippines -  The Cebu City Council has ordered to halt the demolition of over a hundred houses in Barangay Carreta following pleadings from its residents.

Some 127 informal settlers sought the intervention of the City Council last week as the National Housing Authority, who owns the property, is planning to demolish the structures to pave way for a medium-rise building for Overseas Filipino Workers.

In  an  executive  session, NHA-7 project mana-ger Gavino Figuracion said the agency has to dispose close to one hectare of land to recover the expropriation cost of the property amounting to P150 million through a joint venture agreement.

The Carreta property, with an aggregate area of 9,343 square meters that is being occupied by at least 127 informal settlers, was acquired by the NHA in December 2000 through expropriation.  The property is situated on the commercial district of the city around 100 meters away from the Cebu Business Park access road.

NHA has provided the homeowners a relocation site in Barangay Budlaan, but some of the residents refuse to relocate.  The agency allocated P33.9 million for the site development and housing construction for the 2.4 hectares relocation site with drainage and water supply.

At least 70 residents have already transferred to Budlaan, a mountain barangay.

Senior San Roque-Carreta Neighborhood Association led by their President Rhodora Casas, one of the beneficiaries of the expropriated lot that they now occupy, said they are willing to purchase their properties through a Community Mortgage Program.

“Nagdumili mi modawat sa relocation site kay ang mga properties namo dako nga value gumikan sa pipila na ka dekada namo nga pagpuyo diha. Wala mi interest mosukol but willing mopalit sa property through CMP,” she said.

CMP is a mortgage financing program of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC), which assists legally organized associations of underprivileged and homeless citizens to purchase and develop a tract of land under the concept of community ownership. 

However, Figuracion said the informal settlers cannot afford to avail the property considering their average household income, which is P4,478.

“The informal settlers on site are surveyed with an average of P4,478 making the price of the project unaffordable. We already coordinated with the court that this property cannot be a socialized housing since the selling price of units at P400,000 or a tenement housing proves not to be viable for them,” he said, pointing out that the residents can only afford about P500 a month.

He added that the property is not feasible to develop as a socialized housing site due to its high market value.  

Figuracion explained that the recovered cost of the property will be used for socialized housing projects.

 City Council Majority Floor leader Councilor Margarita Osmeña said “everything boils down to financial. I can understand the financial side but we have to consider that the residents have been there for generations already. These are people and it’s not about numbers.”

 “Mahirap isaalang-alang ang mga pamilya na hindi kayang magbayad, that’s why NHA offered a house and lot package in Budlaan” Figuracion replied.

 To find a win-win solution, the city through an ad hoc committee composed of Councilors Alvin Dizon, Mary Ann Delos Santos and Eugenio Gabuya together with the NHA officials and affected residents, are set to meet on August 7 to further discuss the matter particularly on “affordability” issue.

 “Di man ni syudad para lamang sa mga affluent or sa mga OFWs. Hatagan og patas nga higayon ang atong urban poor nga makapuyo sa atong syudad,” said Dizon, committee on housing.  (FREEMAN)