QC okays acquisition of private lots for qualified informal settlers

As part of the sustainability of the city’s socialized housing program, the Quezon City Council has authorized the acquisition of privately owned lots in Barangay Bagbag for the benefit of qualified informal settlers.

Ordinance No. 2694, S-2018 legally allows Mayor Herbert Bautista to acquire, through negotiated sale or expropriation, the subject 5,245-square meter parcels of land located at Interior 165, according to Belmonte.

Vice-Mayor Joy Belmonte said the lots are presently occupied by mostly poor families.

“Barangay Bagbag has so many ISFs (informal settler families) that must be provided with decent and affordable dwelling. Hence, the acquisition of the subject lots for housing projects will be very beneficial to them,” Belmonte said.

The expropriation ordinance was filed by Fifth District Councilor Godofredo Liban II.

Covered by Transfer Certificate Titles (TCTs) RT-29409 (2879), RT-13108 (32745), and RT-13109 (90313), the three tracts of land are owned by spouses Pablo and Victoria Carreon.

Once taken over by the city government, it will be converted by the city’s Task Force on Socialized Housing and Development of Blighted Areas (Task Force Housing) to an in-city socialized housing site for ISFs that have long been occupying the property as well as other qualified beneficiaries.

Based on the latest estimate of the City Hall, there are about 190,000 (ISFs) composed of approximately 950,000 individuals in Quezon City.

Belmonte said this figure came out last January during the three-day workshop aimed at enacting the new Quezon City Housing Code.

This proposed Housing Code, she pointed out, aims to provide ISFs and lower income families with decent houses that they can afford with their little income.

According to the Metro Manila InterAgency Committee on Informal Settlers (MMIAC), there are more than 544,609 households of informal settlers in Metro Manila, representing 21 percent of the total 2.6 million household population.

MMIAC said the government would need around R3.2 billion every year for the next 10 years to provide socialized housing units to informal settlers.