HOUSE TO OWN. Senator Joel Villanueva (left) and his sister Bocaue Mayor Joni Villanueva-Tugna give the house key to one of the 158 beneficiaries of the housing project at Bocaue Hills AFP-PNP Housing, Barangay Batia in Bocaue, Bulacan. (Photo by Manny Balbin)
BOCAUE, Bulacan – A total of 158 informal settler-families living along waterways and in flood-prone areas in this town now have houses they can call their own.
Senator Joel Villanueva, on his birthday Thursday, led the turnover of the 158 housing units from the National Housing Authority (NHA), in coordination with the local government unit (LGU) of Bocaue.
Villanueva said families who live along waterways and flood-prone areas were prioritized for relocation at the Bocaue Hills AFP-PNP Housing, Barangay Batia here.
The senator, together with his sister, Bocaue Mayor Joni Villanueva-Tugna, awarded the first batch of 158 out of 500 housing units allocated for Bocaueños.
“We express our sincerest gratitude to the NHA for giving hope to our kababayans. Our people will now have a clean and habitable environment that they can call home,” Villanueva said.
“For us Filipinos, it is very important to have our own home. So in our Constitution, housing is not just a part of social service. That's basic human rights. It is the right of every Filipino, especially our workers, to have their own home,” the senator added.
Meanwhile, Tugna said it is her dream to have no more informal settlers in the town of Bocaue.
“There are lots of socialized housing intended for my kababayan Bocauenos," the lady mayor added.
Engineer Ramon Paragas of NHA-Bulacan said each housing unit has a lot area of 36 square meters and costs PHP175,000, of which PHP35,000 will be subsidized by the housing agency.
"They are going to pay PHP200 for the first five years, and the housing unit is payable (in) 30 years,” Paragas added.
The application fees for water and power connection will likewise be shouldered by the NHA.
Villanueva also inaugurated a newly-constructed senior citizens’ building and a day care center in Guiguinto and Balagtas towns, respectively. (PNA)
