THE National Housing Authority (NHA) Cebu District is awaiting the release of certificates of title from the Registry of Deeds (RD) so that it can formally turn over 220 completed housing units intended for Yolanda survivors in the town of Tabuelan, northern Cebu.
NHA Cebu District Manager Constancio Antiniero said the houses, completed last year, will be released to their beneficiaries as soon as the documents are secured by NHA.
“So, we are not only providing the physical house and lot but we are also providing the documentation for this purpose,” he said.
Ceremonial turnover for the Yolanda housing units was held Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, Tabuelan officials and officers of the Tabuelan Homeowners’ Association Inc. attended the turnover held at the NHA Cebu district office.
“As per advise from the developer, maybe, by first quarter of next year, the titles will be available and consequently, we will turn over to the local government for the local government to facilitate the transfer of the title to the beneficiaries,” Antiniero said.
Roy Plaña, 47, president of the homeowners’ association in Tabuelan expressed joy over the progress.
“If another calamity strikes, we will no longer be afraid and we will be able to rest well knowing that we do not need to go to an evacuation center,” Plaña said in Cebuano.
The project in Tabuelan worth P63, 722, 709.92 is, so far, the only NHA housing project for super typhoon Yolanda survivors in Cebu that has been fully completed by the agency.
Other NHA Yolanda housing projects outside Tabuelan remain under construction with several housing units still awaiting completion six years after the tragedy.
In an earlier interview, NHA Cebu senior community support services officer Elena Galeon told SunStar Cebu that of the 20,877 houses the NHA is set to build for survivors, 8,104 are considered completed units.
A total of 12,773 units are still either undergoing land development or still up for bidding by the local government units (LGUs).
Antiniero said that the title certificates for the completed housing units in Tabuelan will carry an annotation that will prevent beneficiaries from selling their units within a period of 20 to 30 years.
“Beneficiaries have to feel a sense of responsibility. We cannot control if they will eventually sell their units because that will be their discretion but not within the period of 20 to 30 years,” Antiniero said in a mix of Cebuano and English.
Antiniero said that NHA has a so-called “alpha listing” which indicates that a person has been awarded with a housing unit from NHA and could, therefore, no longer avail of a similar project in the future.
Meanwhile, NHA eyes to start the construction of 192 housing units intended for victims of the Naga landslide before the end of 2019.
“As of this time, we are still waiting for the compliance of the winning developer and luckily, it’s a Cebu-based developer, and we are still waiting for the documentary requisites for the issuance of the Notice to Proceed,” he said. WBS