Mt Sto. Tomas eyed as socialized housing site

By Dexter A. See 

BAGUIO CITY – The city planning and development office announced it completed the local shelter plan where a portion of the 139-hectare city-owned property in barangay Sto. Tomas School area is being considered as a site for the local government’s socialized housing project.

City planning officer Evelyn G. Cayat said there are no more available sites in the city which could be used for the implementation of various socialized and low-cost housing projects and that the remaining sites for such programs are in-fill sites in the city’s barangays.

“We identified the different areas in the city that are considered to be no build zones and potential low-cost or socialized housing sites, however, it is unfortunate that what are available for housing are in-fill sites in the different barangays which might not be enough to accommodate the huge demand for low-cost housing,” Cayat, an engineer said.

The local legislative body will conduct a public hearing on Tuesday, November 29, 2018 to get the sentiments of the public on pending proposals of Councilor Edgar M. Avila, chairman of the City Council Committee on Land, Urban Planning and Housing, on the designation of some public lands in Pinsao, Irisan and other barangays as socialized housing sites in the city to be given to qualified landless residents who are members of government housing agencies, like the PAG-IBIG.

 Avila added the local government is currently establishing a database on the number of people who are in need of housing who will be the potential beneficiaries of the low-cost housing sites once the public will agree to the designation of the said lands as socialized housing sites in the city, thus, the need for the residents to provide the basic requirements for them to be included in the data base and ready for dissemination once the housing sites will be made available for distribution.

According to the local legislator, the structures to be constructed in the socialized housing sites will be tenement housing as there is no more available lands for expansion and the way to go for the city is for the put up of medium-rise structures with minimal long-term payment schemes coursed through the different government housing agencies.

Among the basic requirements to be submitted by the residents who want to avail of low-cost housing include a certificate of non-land ownership from the City Assessor’s Office indicating they are not owners of any land in the city, certificate of employment and their membership with government housing agencies where the monthly amortization will be paid.

He said there will be a committee in charge of screening the qualified applicants for the socialized housing projects to be approved by concerned government agencies and the local government.