MANILA Mayor Joseph E. Estrada has asked the city council to hasten the passage of Draft Ordinance 7834, which seeks to waive penalties and charges payable by delinquent beneficiaries of the city’s Land for the Landless Program (LLP).
The proposed tax-amnesty program would mean delinquent landowners would no longer need to pay penalties and charges for nonpayment of amortization, only the principal amortization fees. This translates to a P30-million city revenue loss, the city government reported.
Estrada explained a very common misconception about the LLP is the city Urban Settlements Office (USO) awards lands for free, when it does not.
LLP is based on City Tenants and Security Committee Resolution 16-A that aims to provide the landless and homeless residents of Manila decent and affordable homes and lots. It is mandated by Republic Act 409, the Revised Charter of the City of Manila.
Through expropriation, the city government buys private properties distributed to qualified awardees, who, in turn, are given 20 to 25 years to pay for the lots at affordable rates.
To date, USO manages 98 estates, 61 of which have occupants struggling to pay the monthly amortization, despite its supposed affordability. These are the proposed beneficiaries of Draft Ordinance 7834: land awardees that have outstanding amortization payments for more than three consecutive months, as these are the contracts already due for cancellation.
“These delinquencies and delayed payments could be due to the least priority accorded by some beneficiaries to the program, preferring instead to part with their hard-earned money on expenses like food, clothing and schooling,” Estrada noted.
LLP awardees come from the city’s poorest, such as the 470 illegal-settler families identified last week as the program’s latest beneficiaries.
“We understand life is hard for many LLP beneficiaries, who are mostly poor,” the Manila mayor said, “so we deemed it necessary to grant amnesty or condonation to the qualified awardees.”