Work starts on Malabon housing project for 700 squatter-families

A medium-rise housing project for informal settlers will soon rise on a 1.2-ha lot in Malabon City.

The groundbreaking for the Marangal Village project—composed of 13 five-story buildings that can house more than 720 families—was held Tuesday at the site on Rosal Street in Barangay (village) Longos.

According to Ferdy Tengson, head of the Malabon City Housing Board, the program is unique as it is the first community-initiated housing project in the city.

“The Home Along the Riverways Initiative Coalition (Harico), a group of informal settlers living on the riverbanks of Malabon, has been working on this project for almost two years,” he said in a telephone interview.

Harico started looking within the city for a relocation site for the more than a thousand families residing beside waterways in Malabon after the Supreme Court ordered local governments to clear the banks of the Pasig River and its tributaries by 2015.

Land donation

The group which coordinated with nongovernment organizations Habitat for Humanity and Foundation for Development Alternatives later agreed to use the 1.2-ha property donated by longtime Malabon resident Virginia Santos-Syjuco to Habitat for Humanity.

“Initially, Habitat will fund the construction of the buildings to start the ball rolling. The city government will then reimburse the expenses of Habitat,” Tengson said.

Each unit, he added, would measure 20-sq m. “A unique feature of the units we will be building is that it will have a loft or a mezzanine so residents will have additional space for a bedroom, perhaps.”

Residents who will be chosen by the city government will get the title to their unit as soon as they finish paying for it.

Affordable payments

Each unit can cost between P350,000 and P400,000 and can be paid for through monthly installments of around P2,000.

The project is expected to be completed by 2014.

Aside from the Marangal Village, the city local housing board is also planning a similar medium-rise housing project for informal settlers in partnership with the National Housing Authority.

Construction of the three buildings housing a total of 180 units is expected to begin next year.