61 families at-risk get early gift

THIS Christmas is sure to be merriest ever for the 61 families who moved into their new houses under the Navotas government’s in-city relocation program. Jodee Agoncillo

WITH her family settled in their new home just days before Christmas, the threat posed by future typhoons is the least of 28-year-old Melanie Alasan’s worries.

The Alasans were among the first batch of 61 families relocated from Tulay Singko in Navotas City—declared a danger zone by the local government—who certainly would not be spending the holidays worrying about the threat posed by flooding or toilets without water.

“It’s definitely a new home and a new beginning,” said Alasan, a mother of two, as she recalled how the strong waves spawned by Typhoon “Pedring” in 2011 almost destroyed their shanty.

On Tuesday morning, the Navotas City government, in cooperation with the National Housing Authority (NHA), turned over 61 of the 680 newly-completed housing units or two of the 21 tenements built under the Navotas Homes project.

According to NHA engineer Juancho Corpuz, the local government’s in-city resettlement program was implemented at a cost of P250 million. The site of the project—an eight-hectare piece of reclaimed lot in Barangay Tanza also within Navotas—was donated by the local government.

For 25 years, the relocated families will be renting their very own 20-square-meter unit with the lease renewable for another 25 years, Corpuz said. The rent has yet to be determined although he said that a similar unit in Caloocan City also built by the NHA would cost around P800 to P1,400 a month.

Corpuz said the NHA earlier targeted around 7,000 Navoteños living in danger zones such as waterways and coastal areas. The initial goal, he told the Inquirer, was to relocate all these families to a safer site within the city by 2016. After the first batch, two more were expected to follow—an estimated 588 families—next year, he added.

Navotas Homes has its own day-care center, a pumping station, a community center, a septic tank for waste disposal, a basketball court and multipurpose hall. It is also near the Tanza Elementary and High Schools and the Navotas City hospital, according to Mayor John Reynaldo Tiangco.

To qualify for the program, beneficiaries had to undergo a screening process: They should be longtime Navotas residents, living in danger zones and earning not more than P10,000 a month, said city social welfare development chief Jennifer Serrano.

Once qualified, however, residents of the Navotas Homes must comply with regulations. “Vices such as drinking and gambling are not allowed, with a staff regularly monitoring the conduct of the residents. The city also conducts surprise drug tests to make sure the area is drug and crime-free,” Tiangco said.