Former President and now House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is batting for the speedy grant of land titles for the urban poor housing beneficiaries.
She recently led the oversight hearing of the committee on housing and urban development, chaired by Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Benitez to fast-track the granting of land titles.
The committee members convened to look into several presidential proclamations on social housing issued by Arroyo during her presidency to ensure that the housing projects would move forward “at the soonest possible time.”
They continued with the deliberation on House Resolution No. 2067 seeking to conduct an inquiry in aid of legislation on the implementation of Proclamation No. 627 of 2004.
The proclamation declared a two-hectare land within Barangay Comembo in Makati City as off-base housing for the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
Jeanette Cruz, Housing and Urban Development Coordination Council director, said the National Housing Authority was not able to fully exercise the administration over the area because of a special patent that was still not provided by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-National Capital Region.
On the other hand, Florencio Chavez, DENR’s Land Management in Metro Manila officer, said such could be resolved by a “simple letter” from the NHA requesting for the special patent from its agency.
Upon receiving the request, the special patent could be available in a month, Chavez said.
Benitez directed Brig. Gen. Arnold Fernandez to submit a list of qualified beneficiaries to the NHA to ensure that all 295 of them would receive the land titles.
He recommended for the HUDCC and NHA to allow the AFP to administer the land title distribution to the qualified occupants of the property.
“Whether you give it to whoever is there, that is your lookout. It is designed for your members, for soldiers, for your colleagues. Whatever you do, that would reflect on you. And in this case, the NHA and HUDCC will just secure the titles, pass it to you, then the lookout will now be on your shoulder,” he said.
Cruz, for her part, said the inter-agency committee must still convene to discuss pricing on May 28.
Arroyo maintained the pricing on socialized housing sites should be based on the zonal value of the area during the issuance of the proclamations.
Apart from Proclamation No. 627, the committee also reviewed the status of implementation of Executive No. 48 of 2001, declaring non-core properties of the Philippine National Railways as socialized housing sites, Proclamation No. 391 of 2003, declaring an area in Barrio Balagbag and Maricban in Pasay City open for disposition to qualified applicants, Proclamation No. 397 of 2003, reserving the Tala Estate in Caloocan City for socialized housing and Proclamation No. 1193 of 2006, reserving a land in Sta. Ana, Manila for relocation site.