San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora on Wednesday, May 1, vowed to provide new houses to the victims of the April 16 blaze that hit a residential area in Isla F. Manalo, Barangay Batis killing one fire volunteer and displacing over 100 families.
(Photos from Mayor Francis Zamora)
"Sa ating pakikipagusap sa mga minamahal nating San Juaneño mula sa Isla sa Barangay Batis na nasunugan noong Abril 16, inilatag po natin ang ating planong pabahay para sa kanila upang magkaroon sila ng disente at marangal na tahanan na masasabi nilang pagaari nila (In our meeting with our beloved San Juaneños from Barangay Batis who were hit by the fire last April 16, we discussed with them the planned housing program that aims to give them a decent home they can call their own)," Zamora said.
"Ito po ay sa pamamagitan ng 4PH Program o Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program ng Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development na pinamumunuan ni Secretary Jerry Acuzar na aking kinausap mismo ng personal para sa proyektong ito. Sila po ay gagawan ng prefabricated homes ng DHSUD na magiging pansamantalang tahanan nila habang tinatapos ang konstruksyon ng pabahay sa Isla (This is through the 4PH Program or Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development led by Secretary Jerry Acuzar whom I met personally for this project. The victims will be given prefabricated homes that will serve as temporary shelters while the housing project in Isla is ongoing)," he added.
Fire victims from Isla received P10,000 financial aid from the local government unit (LGU) and an extra P6,000 from the national government via the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) and San Juan City Rep. Bel Zamora. They also received supplies and goods from Tzu Chi Foundation and the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Foundation Inc.
Pabahay
Zamora had earlier said he met with Acuzar to discuss the city's proposed 3rd housing project as he tackled President Marcos' 4PH as well as other housing issues in the National Capital Region (NCR) which were discussed during the Metro Manila Council (MMC) meeting last January 10.
He expressed hope that with the help of the national government, the project will become a reality. The city government is already conducting an inventory of all its government-owned properties in San Juan to be presented to the DSHUD.
"Yung ating 22-storey high rise in-city public housing ay dire-diretso po ang pagpapatayo, in fact, pag ito po ay inyong masisilip dito sa Pinaglabanan ay makikita nyo po kung gaano ito kataas. Medyo matagal lamang po maitayo sapagkat napakataas at napakadaming housing units yan (The construction of our 22-storey high rise in-city public housing is in full swing, in fact, you can see the full scale of this building when you're here in Pinaglabanan. It's just taking a long time for it to be finished due to its height and the number of housing units inside)," Zamora said.
Meanwhile, the city government is in talks with the National Housing Authority (NHA) for its 2nd housing project located in F. Manalo Street which was approved during the Duterte administration.
The housing project will occupy a 2,624 square meter property and will have a total of 549 residential units with an average size of 28 square meters per unit. It will be built on F. Manalo Street in Barangay Batis.
It is a modern, condominium-type building, with water and electrical facilities from Manila Water and Meralco respectively. It will also include other amenities like a multi-purpose room.
The building will include 11 commercial units, 68 parking slots for cars, and 47 slots for motorcycles.
"Dito po sa ating mga housing projects (San Juan), rent-to-own po yan, ibig sabihin, yung ibabayad ninyo every month would be credited as partial payment because after 25 to 30 years na kayo po ay naghuhulog ay magiging sa inyo po ang mga housing units na yan (Our housing projects here in San Juan are rent-to-own, which means, whatever you are paying monthly will serve as partial payment because after 25 to 30 years of continuous payment, the housing unit will become yours)," he explained.