At Tacloban City council hearing Brigham presents housing project documents

TACLOBAN CITY, Philippines - Documents for the housing project in Barangay Bagacay by the Brigham Estate Homeowners Association Inc. were presented to the City Council in yesterday’s joint committee hearing on the legality of the project.

Councilor Neil Glova, head of the committee on urban poor and housing and Councilor Jerry Uy, chair of committee on laws, rules and privileges, with his vice chair Vangie Esperas presided over the hearing at the session hall in the legislative building.

The councilors inquired on the operations of Brigham months after typhoon Yolanda devastated the city and the Visayas and then asked for documents to show proof on the legality of the housing project.

Glova told the beneficiaries and Brigham members, represented by their cluster head Cesar Advincula, not to be discouraged over the conduct of the hearing because “it is for their protection only.”

Uy however assured the Brigham members and the 492 family-beneficiaries who acquired lots from the Campos family in the form of loans from the Social Housing Finance Corp., that the City Council will support their cause.

“So far, after the submission of some documents from the representative of Brigham, I found that there is already an SHFC guaranty to the property acquisition. The project is good, as its purpose is for the Yolanda survivors,” said Uy.

Uy further said, “We have to protect the beneficiaries knowing that they were victims of Yolanda,” the reason why the Council asked for the documents from Brigham to ascertain the legal aspects.

Brigham officers and members, in presenting their documents, also told the Council they were happy and amazed to finally have a lot they could call their own, through the SHFC.

Esperas, for her part, said she was confident on the housing project considering that the lots acquisition had the guaranty from a government’s financing corporation.

Lawyer Clifford Campos, one of the heirs who decided to sell the 35-square meter property to Brigham for the project, did not attend the hearing.

Under the project, each of the beneficiaries will be paying P456 monthly covering a loan for a 40-square meter lot acquisition, and an additional P411 monthly for a house amortization, or a total of P867 monthly for a 25-year loan period, payable to SHFC.

Brigham president Levilito Banadora, also did not attend the hearing, but in a statement over DyVL radio, said some beneficiaries who may not be ready yet to pay to SHFC will be delisted and then replaced by those who can comply with the amortization requirements and Brigham regulations.

Siony Sia, accredited community mobilizer from SHFC, told DyVL radio in a separate interview, that all the requirements for lot acquisition such as clearances, evaluation and other documents were legally secured and complied with.

“The SHFC will not approve the financing of the lot acquisition for even only one beneficiary if the documents are not complete and the did not go through the legal processes,” said Sia, who was invited to testify in another hearing by the City Council any time this month.