BACOLOD CITY — The National Housing Authority (NHA) is coordinating with Mayor Evelio Leonardia to ascertain if there are uniformed personnel willing to waive ownership of their housing units in Ciudad Felisa here.
“We will coordinate with the mayor because we have determined some of the Kadamay members are not residents of Bacolod,” said NHA architect Susana Nonato, head of the Armed Forces of the Philippines/Philippine National Police (AFP/PNP) housing project implementation team.
Nonato returned to Bacolod on Friday, a week after she met with leaders of the urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay)-Negros.
About a thousand Kadamay-Negros members camped out overnight inside the government housing site in Barangay Felisa on August 30-31.
She reiterated the housing project remains unoccupied because the installation of electric and water connections are still being worked out.
The NHA team was joined by Senator Joseph Victor Ejercito, chairperson of the Senate committee on urban planning, housing, and resettlement, Leonardia and Bacolod City Lone District Rep. Greg Gasataya when they visited the site on Friday afternoon.
During the visit, Ejercito said his committee had previously conducted an inquiry on the implementation of the AFP/PNP housing projects and learned why uniformed personnel have not occupied the housing units.
He noted that in Bacolod, the housing units that will not be occupied can be awarded by the NHA to qualified beneficiaries.
“For Kadamay, we cannot release (the housing units) for free because the amortization will also be used for other housing projects,” the senator said.
Meanwhile, Leonardia said the city government would assist the NHA in determining who among the awardees will waive their right to ownership of the housing units in Ciudad Felisa.
“It’s a good development that Senator Ejercito personally inspected the area,” the mayor said.
He said the rule of law, procedures, and legality should be followed by the qualified beneficiaries in owning the houses.
Ciudad Felisa, which was completed in 2015, has a total of 1,498 units.
Meanwhile, the NHA team no longer held a dialogue with leaders of Kadamay-Negros since all their demands were already discussed in last week’s meeting, NHA-Bacolod office project manager Alejandro Ongsuco said in an interview. (Nanette Guadalquiver/PNA)
