MANILA, Philippines — The Las Piñas city government recently broke ground for the construction of new mass housing units to benefit 161 informal settler families (ISFs) at Green Archers Compound in Barangay Pulanglupa Uno.
The project is the second phase of a program started two years ago with the help of the National Housing Authority (NHA), the Social Housing Finance Corp. (SHFC) and the city’s Local Housing Development Office.
The first phase benefited 41 ISFs while the next phase has 202 beneficiaries, who are currently paying their monthly amortization to NHA. Each unit measures 24 square meters.
Las Piñas councilor Mark Anthony Santos said most of the beneficiaries do not have regular income such as tricycle drivers and market vendors and cannot afford decent housing at commercially available rates.
Santos, chairman of the city council’s Informal Settlers, House and Land Use Committee, said the city government was able to convince the private land owner to sell to them the land through the government’s Community Mortgage program (CMP).
Under the SHFC-CMP program, legally organized associations of low-income groups are assisted in acquiring and developing the land.
Santos said the beneficiaries are organized by the LGU into homeowners’ associations to maintain cleanliness and order in the new communities.
These associations also serve as conduits between the LGU and the residents for self-help programs that can help improve their income and living conditions, he added.