SHELTER PROGRAM. Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez presents an update on the dignified human settlements agenda of Victorias City, Negros Occidental during his mid-term report before the City Council on Monday (March 18, 2024). The biggest project is the Sidlak Residential Complex being implemented by the city government under the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Housing (4PH) Program. (Screenshot from Victorias City Information Office video)
BACOLOD CITY – Some 1,013 employees from the government and private sectors have applied to own a home in the Sidlak Residential Complex of Victorias City, Negros Occidental.
Being implemented by the city government under the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Housing (4PH) Program, the Sidlak Residential Complex comprises up to 10-five storey mid-rise buildings that will be developed inside the Sidlak Village Global City in Barangay XIII.
Mayor Javier Miguel Benitez said it is one of the city’s biggest priority projects that started last year under his dignified human settlements agenda.
“We have entered into an agreement to develop the Sidlak Residential Complex. The settlement will be built near our new development areas,” Benitez said in his mid-term report delivered before the City Council on Monday.
He said the housing project will be developed in partnership with the Department of Human Settlement ang Urban Development (DHSUD) and the Pag-IBIG Fund.
Data of the City Human Settlement and Urban Development Office showed that as of end-2023, the 1,013 applicants include 39 percent local government employees; 34 percent private sector workers; 24 percent Department of Education and Commission on Higher Education employees; and 3 percent, personnel of Philippine National Police and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology.
In November last year, Benitez, on behalf of the city government, signed a joint venture agreement (JVA) with Scheirman Construction Consolidated Inc. to develop the Sidlak housing project, which covers financing, design, construction and development of a mixed-used integrated infrastructure for housing and a sustainable community.
The signing of the JVA complies with the memorandum of agreement between the city government, DHSUD and the Pag-IBIG Fund in February last year.
Meanwhile, Benitez said the city government has also initiated relocation activities for informal settler families and updated the status of unoccupied units and vacant lots in the previous relocation projects such as the Villa Victorias.
He said that for the first time, the city government organized homeowners’ associations in various housing sites.
“As early as now, we are putting this into place to avoid problems related to informal settlers and poorly planned communities for future leaders of the city,” the mayor said. (PNA)
