NHA reminds ex-squatters relocation isn’t free

ANGELES CITY—The National Housing Authority (NHA) has issued notices demanding amortization payments to more than 28,000 families, who were relocated to 16 resettlement sites called North Ville in Pampanga and Bulacan to give way to the NorthRail project.

Wilfredo Lauc, who received a unit in North Ville 15 here, said the notice of payment he received showed he owed the NHA at least P1,621 in the last eight months, or P200 a month.

The notice was signed by an official of the Soliven Tagayuna, Gangan, Panopio & De Pano law firm, which claims to be a collection agency of the NHA.

The NHA imposed also a penalty of P21 for delayed payment, the billing attached to the notice showed.

The notice said that failure to pay for three consecutive months would cause the cancelation of loan agreements and housing construction loans or conditional-to-sell amendatory contracts.

Lauc said he did not know he would pay for the house and lot.

“[NHA] just moved us to [North Ville 15 in Barangay Cutud]. I was not informed that I must pay for the unit,” Lauc told the Inquirer.

Even if he had been informed, Lauc said he could not pay since his earnings as a janitor were not enough.

Felicisimo Lazarte Jr., manager of the NHA Northern-Central Luzon office, said the notices were issued because only 10 percent of settlers have been paying their respective housing amortization.

“The collection rate is low since we began collecting last April,” Lazarte said when reached by phone. Settlers can own the house and lot after completing payments in 30 years, he said.

To improve the capacity of settlers to pay, Lazarte said the NHA has introduced livelihood projects and skills training in the resettlements.

The NHA set aside P1.68 billion from out the agency’s P3.5-billion budget in 2009 to cover the cost of building houses, school buildings and community facilities, buying relocation sites and providing food allowances to settlers on NorthRail’s Section 2 (Malolos to Mabalacat in Pampanga), according to then NHA General Manager Federico Laxa.

The resumption or cancelation of the NorthRail project would depend on the outcome of a renegotiation with the Chinese government by the economic team of President Aquino, who is on state visit to China this week. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon