Some 2,000 squatter families in Camarin, Caloocan City now have a chance to own the lots where their houses stand as Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo continues to push for the implementation of Presidential Proclamation 397.
The proclamation set aside 14 hectares of the land reserved for the civic center of the Caloocan City Government to the squatters.
Arroyo issued the proclamation when she was still the President but it was never carried out by her successor.
In 2003, Arroyo amended Proclamation 843 dated April 26, 1971, which reserved the Tala Estate for various government uses, by segregating an area of 14 hectares from the parcel reserved for Civic Center purposes of the City Government of Caloocan.
Under Arroyo’s proclamation, the area was reserved as socialized housing site open for disposition in favor of the bonafide residents.
Arroyo’s proclamation ordered that the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, in coordination with the City Government of Caloocan, shall take the lead in its implementation.
The proclamation further mandated that HUDCCto be assisted by the Department of Environmentand Natural Resources, National Housing Authority, Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor and National Anti-Poverty Commission in accordance with the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992 and other issuances on the matter.
Arroyo met Thursday with the residents in the area together with officials of concerned people’s organizations, Caloocan City government, the HUDCC, and the DENR. Caloocan City Mayor Oscar Malapitan presided over the meeting that was also attended by Rep. Dale Malapitan.
The committee confirmed that the boundary and structural surveys have been completed by the DENR and HUDCC, respectively.
The HUDCC contracted out the subdivision survey, which was completed in March 2019. The agency promised to formally submit the results of the survey by this weekend.
For its part, the DENR said it is still awaiting a letter of request from the Caloocan City government so that the agency can provide them a deed of conveyance for the land.
Also discussed was the failure of many beneficiaries to submit pre-qualification requirements. Chief among these is a fee of P70 for a certification that the beneficiary-family does not own land in Caloocan, as required by a local ordinance. To date, only a small fraction of the 2,000 possible family-beneficiaries had paid the fee.
The attendees from the government urged the people’s organizations representing the beneficiaries to increase efforts in encouraging payment of the necessary fees and compliance with requirements so that land titling can progress.
The committee hopes that before June 2019 ends, all 2,000 beneficiaries can hurdle the pre-qualification requirements of the NHA so they can obtain their Certificate of Lot Award.
