Published: February 04, 2015

                  Vice President Jejomar C Binay led the distribution of Certificates of Lot Allocation (CeLAs) to over 1,000 housing beneficiaries in Nueva Ecija over the weekend.

                  Binay, Chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDDC), awarded CeLAs to 800 employees of the Central Luzon State University (CLSU) in the Science City of Muñoz and to 386 occupants of non-core properties of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) designated as socialized housing sites in Cuyapo town.

                  “Malayo na nga ang tinahak ninyo tungo sa adhikaing mabigyan ng abot-kaya at disenteng pabahay ang inyong hanay. Taong 1997 pa nang itinatag ninyo ang CLSU Employees Housing Cooperative. At sa taon ding yun, nakipag-ugnayan kayo sa National Housing Authority (NHA) upang simulan nang ipatupad ang noon ay pinaplano pa lamang na proyektong pabahay para sa mga guro at kawani ng unibersidad,” he told CLSU employees during the awarding ceremonies.

                  “Ang Certificate of Lot Award o CeLA na inyong natanggap ngayon ang siyang magsisilbing patunay ng inyong pagmamay-ari ng lupang pagtitirikan ng inyong mga tahanan. Ito’y bahagi ng programa ng pamahalaan na mabigyan ng kaseguruhan sa paninirahan o security of tenure hindi lamang ang mga informal settler families kundi maging ang ating mga lingkod-bayan at kawani ng pamahalaan na nangagailangan din ng pabahay,” he added.

                  The CLSU Employees Village covers 20 hectares and will accommodate 1,030 CLSU employees. The project will start this month and is targeted to be completed at the end of the year.

                  According to Binay, land development and housing construction for the CLSU Employees Village will be under the Government Employees Housing Program of NHA while Pag-IBIG Fund will provide the End-User Financing (EUF) for employees who are Pag-IBIG members.

                  Meanwhile, the PNR housing project in Cuyapo, covering 10 hecatares, is set to benefit a total of 1,500 families. The awardees include 330 actual bonafide occupants in the proclaimed site, some of whom have been occupying the lots since the 1970s.

                  The beneficiaries, selected by the local government of Cuyapo and approved by the Local Inter-Agency Committee (LIAC), are part of the Housing and Urban Development Council (HUDCC)’s socialized housing program by virtue of Executive Order (EO) 48, Series 2001.

                  EO 48 declared non-core properties of PNR, totaling some 1,000 hectares, as socialized housing sites and allowed the distribution of the land to qualified occupants.