TAGBILARAN CITY, Bohol, July 14 (PIA) -- Members of the country’s uniformed service received the proof of ownership to their own units of row houses at the National Housing Authority’s (NHA) Saint Michael Village in Dauis town, six kilometers from Tagbilaran CIty.
This is in response to the call of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte for better lives to the country’s heroes in the service.
Sen. Christopher Lawrence Go, National Housing Authority General (NHA) General Manager Marcelino Escalada Jr., Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Lloyd Dino together with Gov. Arthur Yap and Dauis Mayor Merriam Sumaylo gave the certificates of award to personnel of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) for their own housing unit.
Police Lt. Col. Joseph Berondo, Army Major Aaron Alorro, Fire Officer 1 Pearl Marie Pogoy, Jail Officer 1 Glicerio Salamaña, and Police Capt. Rufo Potane each received their Certificate of Award during the ceremonial turnover on July 9.
Another 96 members of the PNP, AFP, BJMP, and BFP also received their certificates of award for the 350 units which the NHA would soon be turning over to the local government unit to administer.
Escalada said the row houses were completed in 2016 and became part of the 35,000 units of the old AFP/PNP housing nationwide inventory which remained unawarded.
Upon new orders of the President, he said the government has authorized the NHA to re-award these units as soon as possible.
The residential lots, each measuring 22 square meters, have front setback of 2.5 meters and back setback of 2 meters and are already with tiled toilets and pail flush type water closets, jalousie windows, kitchen sink and water closet, and a loft can be added for a masters bedroom and another spare room.
Escalada said that for the beneficiaries whose adjoining units remained unawarded, they can apply to NHA to get the other unit.
The units are available for P200 a month for the first five years and succeeding P1,000 for the next 20 years.
This is still easy and affordable and beneficiaries can even complete the payment in just a few years, Escalada said.
One reason why there were no takers of the housing units is because Saint Michael Village, a community of 350 completed row houses and 150 more for its Phase 2, still has to tap electricity and water from the local power utilities provider.
NHA said that with the help of Go, power supply would now be provided by Bohol Electric Cooperative while its water supply would be provided by Richli Corporation.
The 3.6-hectare property already has provisions for water and electricity and only needs to be tapped to the utilities source for the units to be livable.
That day, NHA awarded the 100 units of the 350 units available to beneficiaries.
Built as a community about a kilometer from the Songculan Church, Saint Michael Village has ten meters of concrete paved roads and alleys, reinforced concrete pipes for its drainage system, and concrete power posts for the power needs of the community.
Under the Duterte Administration, however, a newer design with a bigger floor space than the current 22-square meter loftable units, comes with privacy partitions for its two bedrooms and can be in a condominium design, according to Escalada. (RAHC/PIA7 Bohol)
