MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — Families in Purok 3, Mahogany in Barangay Ocaña, Carcar City have long dreamed of one day living in a house that they could call their own.
And this dream will become a reality soon with the implementation of a socialized housing project in their area with the help of the Kalambuan sa Dakbayan (KD) Foundation Inc. and its government and private sector partners.
“Karon mapasalamaton ug mapasigarbohon kaayo mi kay diri gyud sa among barangay nagsugod ang maong programa,” said John Ray Ardon during the project’s groundbreaking ceremony held on Thursday morning, Nov. 24.
(Now, we are grateful and very proud because they started the program here in our barangay.)
Ardon of the Sun Community 1 Homeowners Association Inc. said he and the other project beneficiaries feel very blessed.
Back in 2011, Ardon and some of his neighbors formed the Taytayan Ocaña Homeowners Association, now called the Sun Community 1 Homeowners Association Inc., with hopes of one day getting the help that they would need to give their families a decent and permanent home.
In a year’s time, some of the beneficiaries will already celebrate Christmas in their new 2-storey raw houses at the Panaghiusa Village in Barangay Ocaña.
Lawyer Jose Daluz III, KD Foundation president, said that the socialized housing project in Barangay Ocaña was just the first of the many that they had yet to implement.
“For now, we are starting off with one barangay. This is meant to be a model project for socialized housing neighborhoods that will follow as KD Foundation continues to mobilize in other areas,” he said
To date, Daluz said, they were looking for a 1.2 hectare property in Carcar City that they could use for their next project.
Daluz, who is also the current chairman of the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) Board, said KD Foundation chose to have its first socialized housing project in Carcar City to show that their cause to help the informal settlers was without political color.
Panaghiusa Village
KD Foundation said, in a statement, that a total of 95 families of informal settlers would be accommodated at the Panaghiusa Village, “the first big time community-led socialized housing project mobilized by KD Foundation Inc.”
The village will be situated on a 6,000 square meter property that is located close to the national highway in Barangay Ocaña.
The horizontal development will be implemented under the Community Mortgage Program (CMP) turn-key modality of the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC), in partnership with the local government of Carcar, the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP), the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and Sun Communities Development Corp.
The first 30 housing units at the Panaghiusa Village are scheduled for turnover to its intended beneficiaries during the last quarter of 2023. Another 30 units will be turned over during the last quarter of 2024 while the remaining 35 units will already be occupied in 2025.
Affordable
Engineer Randolf Librando of SHFC said the raw houses would be paid in 35 years with a two percent interest rate.
“Affordable gyud siya,” he added.
(It is very affordable.)
And to ensure sustainability, PCUP plans to provide the low-income project beneficiaries some livelihood training like agricultural production.
In a statement, Daluz said that “the entire 6,000 square meter lot could have been developed for commercial purposes. But the KD Foundation has chosen to align with the commitment of its partners in providing affordable housing units and well-planned communities for underprivileged Filipinos.”
In a short message that he delivered during the groundbreaking ceremony, Daluz said, the need for socialized housing had become evident when local governments started to progress and became a city.
Progress and development attract migrants who are looking for work and other opportunities.
“Ang solusyon ana is housing,” he said.
(The solution for that is housing.)
/dbs
