MANILA -- The city government of San Juan on Friday inaugurated its second in-city relocation housing project in an effort to provide its indigent constituents with better living conditions.
The inauguration of the San Juan Ville Housing project, located along F. Manalo St. in Barangay Kabayanan, was led by Mayor Guia Gomez, her son Senator Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, and Department of the Interior and Local Government-National Capital Region (DILG-NCR) Officer-in-Charge Director Juan Jovian Ingeniero, who represented Secretary Eduardo Año.
Gomez said the latest housing project of the local government consists of two five-story buildings with a total of 118 units.
“All of the units will be turned over to families from Barangay Salapan whose houses are located in flood-prone areas,” she said.
She added that the San Juan Ville housing also has a multi-purpose hall and sewage treatment plant (STP).
“The homeowners association who will occupy these units, they are the ones who believed that this project will happen. The government is currently expropriating lands around the city for further in-city housing projects,” Gomez said.
Ejercito, who chairs the Senate urban planning and housing committee, said other cities should follow the housing project of San Juan City.
“I want to show to the whole country that even if San Juan is a small city, it was able to come up with an in-city housing project for the poor. Other cities should be able to do the same,” the senator said.
The price of a unit will depend on which floor it is located. Units at the ground floor costs PHP500,000 each while those at the fifth floor costs PHP400,000 each. For example, beneficiaries who availed of units at the third floor can choose to either pay a straight payment of PHP2,280 for 30 years or choose a staggered payment (PHP800 for the first five years, then 1,400 from six to 10 years, PHP2,200 from 11 to 15 years, PHP3,200 from 16 to 20, PHP4,400 from 21 to 25 years and PHP5,500 from 26 to 30 years).
It can be recalled that a memorandum of agreement was signed by the DILG and the San Juan City government in 2015 about the housing project. The Sangguniang Panlungsod, led by Vice Mayor Janella Ejercito Estrada, fully supported the housing project.
It passed the ordinance for the city mayor to enter into an agreement with DILG for the project and the PHP35 million appropriation ordinance for land development.
The DILG allocated PHP90 million for the project, which was formally turned over to the San Juan City government in 2016. The groundbreaking of the project was done in April 2017.
According to Eden Azarcon, head of the Urban Poor Assistance Office of the city government, the beneficiaries of the San Juan Housing Ville project were pre-selected and are legitimate residents of Barangay Salapan. (PR)
