MANILA, Philippines—The city government of Pasay has awarded 112 squatter families with ownership titles to apartments in a four-storey condominium still to be constructed in Pasay City.

These families were among the 33,493 informal settlers in Pasay City who occupied government lands, private properties and danger zones, Alex Acabado, chief of the Pasay Housing and Homesite Regulatory Office said.

He said each family is expected to own a 24-square-meter unit at the 1, 300 square-meter building to be constructed in the Hankins Compound on Tolentino St. by the middle of September.

The city government will shoulder the interest, leaving the homeowners to pay P2,000 monthly for 10 years. The beneficiaries will be able to transfer to their units within five months after the construction of the building.

Pasay City Mayor Peewee Trinidad, who signed a memorandum of agreement on the housing project with the Philippine Business for Social Progress, United Nations Habitat and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, said the city has shelled out only P6.5 million for the program with PBSP providing them with P16 million.

Trinidad noted that the Hankins project will provide the homeowners complete amenities, including a water treatment facility.

“This (project) started as a dream," Trinidad said in statement. “All eyes are on this project because its success will be replicated in other cities.”

In February this year, the city relocated 32 squatter families to Calauan, Laguna. Another 500 families were relocated in Tanay, Rizal this month.