PB to tackle Naga’s relocation site project Two-hectare Balili socialized housing project closer to being realized

The socialized housing project in a portion of the Balili Property in Barangay Tinaan, which is for the hundreds of families affected by the landslide in Sitio Sindulan, Barangay Tinaan in Naga City in southern Cebu, is moving a step closer to being realized.

This developed with the Cebu Provincial Board (PB) expecting to pass today (Monday) a resolution allowing Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III to donate a two-hectare portion of the Balili Property in Barangay Tinaan in Naga City to be used as a relocation site for the landslide-affected families or those specifically who live within the 170-hectare critical zone delineated by the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).

At least 370 houses have been identified by the Naga City personnel to be within the critical zone.

For the relocation site in the Balili property, 320 housing units have been allotted for 320 families or at least 1,500 individuals.

According to the Department of Social Welfare and Development data, as of Saturday, there are 1,664 families or 6,906 individuals staying in 11 evacuation centers in Naga City.

On the Balili property relocation site, Davide visited the area last Tuesday with Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale and Board Members Yolanda Daan, Raul Bacaltos, Christopher Baricuatro, Jerome Christian Librando, and Earl Tidy Oyas.

Magpale, and the board members Daan and Bacaltos, who represents the province’s first district where Naga City is part of, said they would work to pass the deed of donation today (Monday) so that the construction of the 320-unit socialized housing committed by the National Housing Authority (NHA) and the 80-unit counterpart of the LGU (Naga City government) would be started soon.

The National Housing Authority earlier committed to construct a 320-unit socialized housing project in the relocation site once all the clearances and lot ownership will be settled.

The Local Government Unit (LGU) of Naga City also pledged a counterpart of 80 housing units of which construction will begin upon the completion of the processes for the lot donation.

Balili Property and the Gawad Kalinga compound in Barangay Inoburan were the two sites earlier eyed for the relocation.

However, the assessment of the geologists from the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) Central Office found that the Gawad Kalinga Compound is susceptible to flooding hence, it cannot be endorsed as a relocation site by the NHA.

Although the team of geologists from the MGB Central Office has already delineated the about 170-hectare immediate critical zone surrounding and within the landslide’s ground zero, the local government unit is still awaiting clearance from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Central Office to allow families residing outside the critical zone to return home.

Mayor Kristine Chiong earlier said that she would be expecting feedback from the DENR today (Monday) if the evacuees outside the danger zone could go home.