Vice President and housing czar Jejomar C. Binay on Friday awarded titles to 52 beneficiary families from various homeowners associations (HOA) in Butuan City for fulfilling their obligations to the Social Housing Finance Corporation’s (SHFC) Community Mortgage Program (CMP).
The beneficiaries were from the Langihan Urban Neighborhood Settlers Association, Our Lady of Fatima, Butuan HOA, Christ the King HOA, and Guingona HOA.
"Pagkatapos ng halos labindalawang taon nilang pagtupad sa kanilang obligasyon ay nakamtan na rin nila ang kanilang matagal ng pinapangarap – ang lubusang maging kanila ang lupang tinitirhan nila," the housing czar said.
The Vice President also urged the rest of the 1,438 families who benefited from the 12 CMP projects in Butuan City to emulate the example of the families that have already received titles to the land their houses occupy.
"Patuloy sana kayong tumupad sa inyong obligasyon na buwanang paghuhulog at sigurado akong hindi ninyo namamalayan ay makakamtan nyo na rin ang inyong mga titulo," said Binay.
The housing czar also witnessed the signing of a memorandum of agreement between the city government and SHFC for the implementation of a localized CMP. Under the program, P50 million is set aside for the implementation of housing projects for organized communities that wish to have their own house and lot.
Binay also revealed that Butuan City is one of only five local government units that received technical assistance under the program Achieving Sustainable Urban Development (ASUD) of the United Nations-Habitat (UN-Habitat). The Philippines is the only nation in the Asia Pacific region to be included in the said project.
Under the program, the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and UN-Habitat partnered with the city in updating their local shelter plan.
"Puring-puri ng HUDCC team ang local shelter plan ninyo ditto sa Butuan na iprinisinta sa Sangguniang Panlungsod kahapon. Ayon sa inyong local shelter plan, mahigit labinsiyam na libong pamilya ang housing need ng Butuan. Ang maganda dito, tukoy na ninyo ang mga pamilyang higit na nangangailangan at ang mga lugar na maaari nilang lipatan simula ngayong taon," said Binay.
According to Binay, the National Housing Authority has also started two resettlement housing projects in the city.
"Ang isa ay ang Balangayan Butuan Project sa Barangay Pagatpatan para sa isang daan at siyamnapu’t dalawang (192) pamilya. Ang proyekto ay nagkakahalaga ng halos 22 milyong piso na pinaghatian ng NHA at ng local government."
"Ang isa pang proyekto ay angButuan City New Villages Phase 2 sa Barangay Mahay. Halos tatlong daang (300) pamilya naman ang makikinabang sa proyektong ito na nagkakahalaga ng mahigit 55 million pesos, kung saan ang 36 million pesos ay manggagaling sa NHA," he said.
The Vice President also promised Butuan City Mayor Ferdinand Amante, Jr. that the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) or Pag-IBIG Fund will help the local government if it decides to implement a housing project for government employees or teachers.