Cebu City to borrow housing funds

Monday, November 28, 2011

CEBU CITY -- The City’s Local Housing Board wants the Citicenter Commercial Complex used as collateral for a loan that will fund the City Government’s housing program for its employees.

The City plans to develop a high-rise condominium on the lot currently occupied by Citicenter at the corner of Junquera and Sanciangko Sts. in Barangay Kamagayan.

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Aside from City funds, the construction of the high-rise condominium will be funded by the new program offered by the Home Mutual Development Fund (Pag-ibig Fund), which is the Group Housing Loan Program (GHLP) for local government units (LGUs).

Under the GHLP, the City can avail itself of a P40-million loan for vertical development.

The amount will be on top of the P100-million appropriation included in the City’s proposed P11.8-billion budget for next year.

In their letter to the City Council, the Local Housing Board headed by Councilor Alvin Dizon, who also chairs the council’s committee on housing, said the GHLP requires collateral from the LGU.

The board said the loan shall be secured by an original certificate of title (OCT) or transfer certificate of title (TCT) of the housing project subject to the loan. The Citicenter property, covered by TCT No. T-185359, will be tapped as collateral for the City’s vertical development in the area.

The Local Housing Board has already passed a resolution authorizing Mayor Michael Rama to submit as collateral or security the Citicenter lot, in the contract of loan.

The resolution was endorsed to the council during its regular session last Wednesday. The council then referred the matter to the committee on housing.

The City has decided to implement a housing program for its workers upon the request of the employees themselves, particularly those who don’t own a house yet.

Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP) chief lawyer Collin Rosell said the proposed housing project for the employees will be a 10-storey structure.

Rosell said they hope to start the construction of the building early next year.

At present, Rosell said DWUP has started the profiling of City Hall employees.

According to Rosell, transforming the area from being the city’s main red-light district and alleged drug den into a “village within a city,” as proposed by Mayor Michael Rama, will cost at least P1 billion.

The P140-million construction of a high-rise condominium for City Hall employees already forms part of that amount. The remaining amount still needs funding.

Aside from the high-rise building, Rosell said the City is planning to construct at least three medium-rise buildings in the area, similar to the one being built at the old Lorega San Miguel Cemetery.

The medium-rise buildings, he said, may house the informal settlers currently occupying the Citicenter, among others.

The Citicenter, which was built in 1983, covers 7,281 square meters. It was auctioned off in 2003 to satisfy the tax obligation of its owner amounting to P4.3 million, but no one showed any interest.

Its ownership went to the City after the redemption period expired last June 6, 2007. (PDF/Sun.Star Cebu)