Leni receives citation for husband Jesse

AT-RISK NO MORE Vice President Leni Robredo chats with Virgie Regala, one of the beneficiaries of a government housing program her husband, Jesse Robredo, helped plan. NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Vice President Leni Robredo on Monday received a posthumous award on behalf of her husband, Jesse Robredo, for his efforts to provide livable homes for Metro Manila’s informal settlers.

The citation from Alliance of People’s Organizations Along Manggahan Floodway (APOAMF) recognized the late interior secretary for his contributions in the fight for “decent housing and
societal justice.”

The group’s members were among the 900 families who used to live in shacks near the Manggahan Floodway and Pasig River until they became the beneficiaries of a P472-million housing project under the Aquino administration.

‘People’s Plan’

Now called “Manggahan Residences,” the project along East Bank Road in Pasig City was one of those implemented three years ago under the “People’s Plan,” a shelter planning approach that was a brainchild of Jesse Robredo.

According to the Vice President, she remembers her husband whenever she visits housing projects that he worked on in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

“I always say that he should be the one present here. The P50-billion fund was granted in 2011. I lost my husband the following year. He did not get to see the fruits of his labor,” Robredo said.

Decent housing

At Manggahan Residences, a total of 15 five-story buildings were developed with 60 units per building. Each unit sits on a 24-square-meter lot, which costs around P400,000 to P500,000. Under a rent-to-own scheme, beneficiaries pay as much as P1,000 monthly for 30 years.

Bernard Belmonte, APOAMF president, said that families living beside the Pasig River were consulted several times by Jesse Robredo about the project.

He recalled that before moving to Manggahan Residences, he was among the thousands of families who were at risk as their houses were built on the riverbanks.

With the onslaught of Tropical Storm “Ondoy” in 2009, Belmonte’s makeshift house was swept away by raging river currents. Homeless, he was forced to live in a nearby barangay outpost for three months.

“With the People’s Plan, the communities are really included in the planning,” he said. “We were really given a voice … We became part of the solution.” —WITH A REPORT FROM CEDRIX PEREZ