THE construction of 10 high-rise buildings will now begin after President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and local officials broke ground on the Cebu City South Coastal Urban Development (Scud) housing project in Barangay San Nicolas on Monday, Feb. 27, 2023.
About 8,000 informal settler families and low-wage earners in the city are expected to benefit from the Scud project’s Phase 1, which is under the current administration’s Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Housing (4PH) program.
The 20-story buildings will be built within a 25-hectare development site, according to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).
Officials who joined the President in the groundbreaking included Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, House Speaker Martin Romualdez and DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar.
The Scud project is situated across the South Road Properties and it has three phases, covering a total of 60 hectares of land area in barangays Sawang Calero, Duljo-Fatima, Mambaling, Basak San Nicolas, Basak Pardo, Kinasang-an Pardo, Cogon Pardo and Inayawan.
Phase 1 covers Kinasang-an Pardo, Basak Pardo and Basak San Nicolas, while Phase 2 will be in Inayawan, Cogon Pardo and south of South Road Properties (SRP). The third phase of the project covers Duljo-Fatima and Sawang Calero.
“There shall be allocated a total of 270-meter strip along these barangays beyond the SRP for the Scud [project] which will include waterways, streets and highways, monorail stations and railways, community/commercial centers, recreation areas and mangrove parks,” the Cebu City Planning Development Office (CPDO) said in its proposal.
As for the project’s completion date, the city and national governments have no timeline yet because parts of the development sites are lots that are still privately owned.
“There are some that are City-owned. Some parcels have claimants, we learned,” said Cerwin Eviota, Mayor Rama’s special assistant on communications.
Eminent domain
Rama said in his message during the city’s 86th Charter Day celebration Friday night, Feb. 24, that the City will exercise the power of eminent domain over properties that will be used for public purpose.
“Taking an eminent domain, all covered and effective properties in the said development area will be properly identified, marked and tagged, and will be taken by the government for public use. Kuyawan tingali mo, ‘Yay, amo man kaha ni (Yays, ours could be included),’” Rama said during the testimonial dinner and awarding ceremony held at Radisson Blu Hotel.
“You don’t have to worry, but what is important, you must be a part of tomorrow’s progress. If it is not now, when? This is not about winning, not about losing. Definitely the law will be respected,” he said.
According to Eviota, expropriation will be anchored on the amount declared for tax purposes.
Romualdez, in his speech at the Scud project groundbreaking, said that the family of his wife, Rep. Yedda Marie Romualdez, owns some properties in the development site.
“I understand a portion of the properties here belong to their family and I think they’re in the process of turning it over,” he said.
As for the DHSUD, Acuzar is set to meet with his staff to discuss the department’s next moves for the Scud project.
In the memorandum of understanding with the DHSUD, the City provides the lots for the high-rise residential buildings.
For the medium-rise buildings the conglomerates will build on, the City also assured that it will provide the lots.
Monorail
The Scud project also includes the proposed 10-meter-wide monorail route, and Eviota said it is Mayor Rama’s vision for the monorail to run parallel to South Coastal Boulevard, which is also parallel to a 70-meter waterway that will serve as a buffer and recreation zone between the Scud and the SRP commercial zone.
According to the CPDO’s proposal, the monorail route will be constructed in preparation for a future mass transit from Talisay City to the Mactan-Cebu International Airport in Lapu-Lapu City.
Solution
Rama said the groundbreaking of the Scud project is a “dream come true” for him.
As for Marcos, he said the 4PH program is the solution to the country’s housing problem, with the goal of constructing sixmillion houses by the end of his six-year term in 2028.
He said housing projects are not simply about building “houses,” but also about making “human settlements” where communities can thrive together with decent housing.
Marcos appealed to the future recipients of the project to “take care of the houses, keep them clean and orderly,” adding that the government will make the program affordable to the masses.