Land title glitch stalls Yolanda houses
The National Housing Authority (NHA) could not proceed with building 17,000 houses for people in northern Cebu who lost their homes to supertyphoon Yolanda because municipal governments don’t have titles for the designated relocation sites.
Task Force Paglig-on chief Baltazar Tribunalo said lands in Bantayan island and the Camotes group of islands could not be titled because the islands are still classified as alienable and disposable.
In 1981, President Ferdinand Marcos declared the towns of Santa Fe, Bantayan and Madridejos as wilderness areas while the Camotes group of islands comprising the towns of Pilar, Poro, Tudela and San Francisco were classified in 1980 as mangrove forest reserves.
Commission on Audit (COA) rules require land titles in any government land deal.
Tribunalo said they have been coordinating with the NHA in working for the lifting of the wilderness declaration for Bantayan.
Even before the onslaught of Yolanda, several bills to reclassify Bantayan and Camotes were filed in Congress, but the passage of the measures got overtaken by events.
“We will really find legal and better ways,” said Tribunalo.
President Aquino approved the release of about P5.6 billion for Yolanda victims’ shelter and resettlement; P2.4 billion for health and education; P2.01 billion for public infrastructure; P1.8 billion for livelihood and P175 million for capacity building.
Of the P12.2 billion total rehabilitation funds for Cebu, only P4.2 billion has been released to regional line agencies.
Tribunalo said the full amount could not be released in a single tranche because the national government is considering the capacity of the agencies and the LGUs in implementing the programs.
“That’s already a very big amount. Remember, our rehabilitation plan is set to be carried out in five years. We will share the bulk of the responsibility with the agency and the concerned LGUs,” he explained.
The Provincial Appraisal Comitttee conducts the land appraisal and sets the value for local governments but there are requirements to be met, said Provincial Environment and Natural Resources (Penro) head Chad Estella.
“I hope you understand that we are also very cautious in conducting appraisals because of what happened in the Balili property where the committee appraised land that is underwater or submerged,” he said.
“Aside from that we also have other requisites to follow. That is one of the reasons why housing is delayed, ” added Estella.
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