In line with the city's vision for inclusive social housing, the Pasig City local government launched on Monday, July 3, the Zero Informal Settler Families (ISF) Program, and broke ground for the Sotto administration's inaugural in-city housing project.
A total of 585 residence owners in Kalawaan from the Ismar Homeowners Association Incorporated and 160 beneficiaries in Palatiw from the Land for the Landless received certificates in separate ceremonies at the ISMAR covered court and V. Baltazar Street, respectively.
The certificates given to beneficiaries are not yet land titles but are proof of their inclusion as beneficiaries in the program.
PASIG PIO / MANILA BULLETIN
They were conferred to the ISFs by Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, Vice Mayor Robert "Dodot" Jaworski Jr., and Pasig Urban Settlements Office (PUSO) head Ricardo Reyes, witnessed by the 11th City Council.
According to Sotto, the local government helped the two quarreling homeowners groups in Kalawaan reach an agreement by serving as a mediator and negotiator. It also acquired the 24,582-square meter land using the P357 million allotted for the program in the city's supplemental budget passed last August 2022.
Meanwhile, the residents of Palatiw won the bid for their lands in the auction in 2008. However they failed to pay their dues because of lack of financial support. Now that the local government has bought the land of the residential area in order to streamline the transfer process, residents may pay the value of their portion of the land in installments to the local government.
"Ito [Zero ISF program] ay bunga ng apat na dekada na paglaban ninyo at pagtutulungan ng bagong administrasyon (This is the fruits of the 40-year struggle of ISFs to legally own their lands, and the cooperative efforts of this new administration)," said Ricardo Reyes, the head of the Pasig Urban Settlements Office (PUSO).
PASIG PIO / MANILA BULLETIN
Vice Mayor Jaworski stressed that the program is a manifestation of the administration's promise to create a kind of governance that "separates politics from public service."
"Basta kayo ay nakatira sa inyong mga tahanan, kasama kayo sa programa ng ating pamahalaan (As long as you are the resident of your homes, you are a part of the local government's program)," Jaworski said.
Sotto assured that, by launching the Zero ISF program, the local government through PUSO will be able to gradually settle land disputes and issues concerning informal settler communities in the city.
"Ang vision natin ay by 2030, dapat wala nang informal settler. Lahat may sarili ng tahanan, maayos, walang isyu sa lupa (Our vision is, by 2030, there should no longer be any informal settler. Everyone should have their own homes, with no problems regarding their land)," Sotto said.
In-city housing project
After awarding certificates to the ISF beneficiaries, the Pasig City officials broke ground for the first ever in-city housing project under Sotto's administration at Marcelino Street, Tawiran in Barangay Santolan.
The housing project is fully funded by the local government. It will follow a "perpetual lease scheme," according to the city's Public Information Office (PIO).
Each unit of the housing program will have 44 square meters, with a 30-square meter floor space and lofted 14 square meters.
The housing project was intended to become the relocation area for 336 families currently residing in the city's danger zones.
The families will be displaced from their homes when the revetment project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) starts.
Sotto said the local government has been firm in their promise and policies to disallow demolition of homes without proper and adequate relocation sites. The relocation homes must be equipped with water and electricity services, accessible to health services, near schools and sources of livelihood, he noted.
The mayor added that they have also focused on creating relocation sites within the city instead of searching for areas outside Pasig to ease the transfer and adjustment of relocatees.