Vice President and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) Chairman Jejomar C. Binay today led the distribution of Certificates of Lot Award and Certificates of Eligibility for Lot Allocation (CELAs) to 742 family-beneficiaries of government housing projects in Baguio City and Tuba, Benguet.

            Located in three different sites, the housing projects are funded and administered by the National Housing Authority (NHA), Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) and Home Guaranty Corporation (HGC).

            The beneficiaries include 445 families whose houses were severely damaged by Typhoons Pepeng and Ondoy. They were relocated to Barangay Tadiangan Resettlement Site, a 58,583-square meter NHA relocation project in Tuba, Benguet.

            Each family-beneficiary in Barangay Tadiangan Resettlement Site is entitled to a housing unit standing in a 40-square meter lot.

            On the other hand, 110 family-beneficiaries of the Loakan Green Meadows Homeowners’ Association Phase 1, also received their CELAs under the Community Mortgage Program (CMP). The project had an approved funding of about six million pesos.

            The CMP is a financing scheme that assists organized community associations composed of informal settler families (ISFs) to legally acquire the lots they presently occupy.

            “The government shelter agencies have made every effort to provide decent and affordable homes to every Filipino family including the ISFs so they would no longer risk life and limb living in shanties that usually stand in danger areas,” Binay said.

            Another 51 families in Pinesville Subdivision, Baguio City, who settled their housing accounts with HGC will also receive their CELAs from the Vice President.

            HGC likewise turned over the titles to road lots and open spaces in Pinesville to the local government of Baguio City.

            The Vice President told the beneficiaries that solving the housing problem in the country was difficult, and cannot be solved by government or private sector alone.

            "Isang malaking hamon para sa gobyerno kung paano ito maiibsan. Pero sa pagharap sa problema sa pabahay, hindi dapat nag-iisa ang gobyerno. Hindi lang din dapat tayo umasa sa tulong ng pribadong sektor."

            He then urged the beneficiaries to actively participate in solving the problem on housing.

            "Naniniwala po ako na mas magtatagumpay tayo kung pati ang mga mamamayan ay kikilos din. Gagawin ng gobyerno ang kailangan nilang gawin, pero kasinghalaga na gawin ng ating mamamayan ang kanilang tungkulin."