NHA to facilitate titles of Pinatuo resettlers

ANGELES CITY -- Vice President Jejomar Binay said the National Housing Authority (NHA) will look into facilitating the Transfer Certificates of Titles (TCTs) of those displaced during the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991.

The displaced residents are now living in 16 resettlement sites in Pampanga, Zambales and Tarclac.

Binay made this announcement during Monday’s distribution of TCTs to some 175 residents of the EPZA Resettlement Center in Barangay Pulung Cacutud here.  

The event was attended by officials of the NHA headed by General Manager lawyer Chito M. Cruz, Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan, 1st District
Rep. Carmelo Lazatin and Gov. Lilia Pineda. 

Binay said it is among the basic rights of the relocatees now living in the resettlement areas to have rights over the lands where their homes now stand.
 
He added that such would give residents protection and peace of mind after almost two decades since their resettlement.  
 
Binay, who is also chair of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), however, reminded residents in resettlement areas here not to sell their houses to non-Mt. Pinatubo victims as this would not entitle the new occupants to the TCTs.

"We are also working for the improvement of resettlement areas here like provisions for basic amenities such as water system and power supply," Binay said, stressing that the more residents will receive their TCTs in the coming months.
 
For the EPZA Resettlement alone, some 1,400 residents still await their TCTs.
Despite the budget cut from P11 million to P5 million, the HUDCC is optimistic that around 9,000 titles will be given out this year to resettlers victimized by the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo.