Demolition starts for Mindanao Avenue project

MANILA, Philippines — At least 300 families are set to be displaced as the Department of Public Works and Highways started demolishing homes and other structures in Caloocan City yesterday to make way for the DPWH’s Mindanao Avenue extension project.

Officials said 127 families remain in Sitio Gitna in Barangay 166 after the DPWH demolished their homes.

Only 74 of 127 families are qualified to avail themselves of financial assistance and housing from the National Housing Authority (NHA).

For the 53 families who are not qualified to receive NHA benefits, the city government said its social welfare department will provide assistance.

The DPWH said it will provide trucks to ferry these 53 families to places where they have relatives willing to take them in.

Families who are qualified by the NHA have been relocated to their new homes in Camarin Residences 3 in Barangay 175.

Since 2018, the NHA said it has been advising families affected by the road project to relocate.

Meanwhile, city police chief Col. Ruben Lacuesta told The STAR that the first day of the demolition was successful and there was no resistance from residents.

He added that the DPWH’s target is to demolish 152 structures, including non-residential ones, in three days.

The demolition will allow for the concreting of the Mindadao Avenue Extension project stage II-C with a length of more than three kilometers from the North Luzon Expressway-Mindanao Avenue exit to Gen. Luis street.