Fast-track Manggahan floodway project land title distribution, House panel urges

The House Committee on Housing and Urban Development has appealed to government housing agencies to fasttrack the processing of documents that would pave the way for the awarding of land titles to qualified beneficiaries of the 71 hectares of the Manggahan Floodway Socialized Housing Project site in Taytay, Rizal.

Chaired by Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo “Albee” Benitez, the House panel issued the appeal during a hearing held last week on House Bill 8255, authored by former President and now House Speaker Gloria MacapagalArroyo. The bill seeks to award 71 hectares of the Manggahan Floodway Socialized Housing Project site to qualified beneficiaries.

Arroyo said that under the bill, the land titles should be available for distribution by 2020.

The bill is a result of Proclamation No. 458, issued by then President Fidel V. Ramos in 1994, declaring certain parcels of land along the floodway for disposition in accordance with Republic Act No. 7279 or the “Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992.”

In the explanatory note of the bill, Arroyo lamented that the lots that are subject of Proclamation No. 458 have not been awarded by the National Housing Authority (NHA) to beneficiaries.

“Despite a series of dialogues, consultations, and the creation of a technical working group to identify issues and concerns regarding the Manggahan Floodway Socialized Project site, no actual and specific action has been taken to fully provide security of housing to the urban poor,” said Arroyo.

Speaker Arroyo further said that the Urban Poor Affairs Office of the local government of Taytay previously estimated the population in the Manggahan Floodway within the jurisdiction of Taytay to be around 42,033 as of 2014, from 6,365 households in 2005.

“It is a thriving community which, if properly supported by the government, could be utilized as a model community for the urban poor for its self-sustaining development, community participation, maintenance of peace and order, and economic independence,” the House leader said.

Consequently, plans and programs that aim to develop and implement procedures on the issues of sanitation, environmental protection, structural stability, as well as economic viability have not been fully achieved to this day, she said.

Responding to the call of the Lower House, NHA Division Manager Engr. Ma. Therese Siat, informed the panel that the housing agency shall conduct a board meeting to discuss and approve their corporate funds, including the

budget needed for conducting the survey in the area, which she explained is the initial step to fully execute the legislative measure.

Thereafter, the NHA shall publish advertisements to reach out to potential bidders. Upon completion, the agency shall begin the survey within the area to determine its current state, she said.

Siat said that while the aforementioned budget is expected to be available by June, 2019, the survey up to the actual land titling shall be completely accomplished 360 days thereafter.

Siat also said that another crucial component for the land titling is the revision of the area’s special patent.

The Land Management Bureau (LMB) shall first carve out the property included in the document that overlaps with a titled property, which was about 1,000 square meters only, she said.