The local government of Danao City in northern Cebu marked two groundbreaking ceremonies in Barangay Dunggoan on Thursday, November 23. Danao City officials led the groundbreaking of its satellite market and housing village. CDN Digital Photo | Niña Mae Oliverio
DANAO CITY, Philippines — Two transformative projects will soon rise in Danao City in northern Cebu as its local government held a groundbreaking ceremony on Thursday, November 23, 2023.
The ceremony on Thursday was for the soon-to-rise housing village and satellite market in Barangay Dunggoan, which is a collaboration project of the Danao City government, Gawad Kalinga Community Development Foundation, and a cement company nestled in the same barangay.
Last October, Danao City also held groundbreaking activities for their public market and museum.
READ: Danao City museum, new-look public market to rise soon
Toby Florendo, Cebu Provincial Head of Gawad Kalinga (GK), said that the socialized housing will foster 300 families. According to the city’s public information office (PIO), the estimated cost of the 2.4-hectare housing project is P179 million.
Florendo said that the housing village in Danao will be their 18th housing project in Cebu, and should this project be completed soon, this will make their second biggest number of GK houses in the province, having the first one in Daanbantayan in northern Cebu.
Since it is a collaboration project, Danao City Mayor Thomas “Mix” Durano said in a separate interview that their agreement was that the local government will prepare the land, cement roads, water, electricity, and drainage.
“All they do, the Gawad Kalinga, is magtukod nalang sila. Land preparation sa amoa, mao among sabot, the Danao City and the Republic Cement,” Durano said.
He said that the Republic Cement donated the land property for the housing project.
Engineer Noel Ballaran, plant manager of the cement company, said that their undertaking was part of their ‘social responsibility’ in the community.
No specific timeline
In terms of its completion, Florendo said that there is no specific timeline as of press time because the site development in the area is a little difficult due to the type of soil for construction.
“Gahi ang yuta, so kami on our own before naglisod mi. Now that we’ve partnered with LGU, nagpada gyud sila’g bulldozer, nagpada gyud sila’g heavy equipment para ma-prepare gyud ang yuta kay lisod gyud tukuran,” Florendo said.
Apart from the soil, the funding of the houses is also what GK considered, according to Florendo.
“Lisod naman ang funding sa balay karon. So, we might do the possibility of a hybrid, meaning, dili gyud siya tanan same design nga balay. We might allow na basta certain parameters, masunod lang, makatukod na’g balay,” he added.
The housing village’s design is “loftable,” which means it would be one-story houses with high ceilings.
The other sites of the socialized housing project are San Remegio, Bogo City, Consolacion, Liloan, Talisay City, Mandaue City, Toledo City, Minglanilla, City of Naga, Dumanjug, Dalaguete, among others.
Satellite market
As to the satellite market which will be located adjacent to the village, Florendo revealed that they happened to be having a satellite market because they saw its importance in the area.
The 959-square meter satellite market’s allocated budget is P11 million, coming from the city’s general fund and is scheduled for completion in June 2024, according to the PIO.
In a separate interview, Durano said that they decided to have a satellite market as a strategy to make the market accessible to residents who lived far away from the main public market.
“We will not be depending on only one [market] but at least [ang] distribution ng mga crops namin [ma]punta sa satellite markets na siya,” Durano said.
The mayor also revealed that they are planning to add four more satellite markets in the city in the future and the initial locations are in Barangays Guinacot, Baliang, Lawaan, and Masaba.
Durano added that since the population of Danao City is getting bigger, having only one market might be difficult to cater to the constituents in the future, especially those who would want to rent and sell.
“It’s better to spread them out para ang business pod mo spread out,” he added.
RELATED STORIES:
Danao City centenarian gets P100,000 cash
Danao City’s Karansa Festival is back