TWO hundred more homeless residents of Parañaque stand to benefit early next year from the P15-million social housing project of the local government, dubbed “Bagong Parañaque Homes III,” in C-5 Extension in Barangay La Huerta.
According to Mayor Edwin Olivarez, the identified recipients, who will soon get their respective certificates of ownership, are mostly residing near the runway of Ninoy Aquino International Airport and Airport Village in Barangay Moonwalk.
The remaining beneficiaries are long-time informal settlers, whose shanties are in danger zones, riverbanks, creeks and those with court demolition orders in several barangays in District I.
Earlier, the local chief executive handed over 204 houses to beneficiaries of “Bagong Parañaque Homes II,” which sits on the same location as the upcoming residential project.
Apart from the turnover of these dwelling units, which formed part of Olivarez’s birthday celebration on August 14, three other major undertakings of the mayor were revealed.
These are the new Materials Recovery Facility, the City Motorpool and the Animal Shelter—all near the housing project.
Each of the awarded units was given for free. Only the land cost, on the other hand, will be payable to the city government on installment basis.
The affordable-housing initiative is a model of two-story condominium, which maximizes the use of scarce and costly land in the city. It comprises of 3-hectare land owned by the local government.
Public Information Office Chief Mar Jimenez said that it can accommodate around 1,000 housing units once it becomes fully developed.
Since the project started in 2015, he noted that the families who have benefited are families from Bacass, Hotiveros in Barangay San Antonio, Balicanta in Barangay Don Bosco, and Icarna in Moonwalk.
Initially, a total of 144 housing units were awarded to the residents of “Bagong Parañaque Homes I” in April of the same year.
The construction of houses was made through the effort of the Parañaque City Hall, with the help from Department of the Interior and Local Government, Rotary International District 3830 Rotary Homes Foundation Inc. and Couples for Christ-Ancop Tekton Foundation Inc.
It was also implemented by Habitat for Humanity Philippines and South Metro Manila iHome Foundation Inc., a National Housing Authority-accredited nongovernment implementing builder.