• CHERYL G. CRUZ
There will be an initial turnover of housing units at the Asenso Yuhum Residences-Arao in Barangay Vista Alegre, Bacolod City, tomorrow, Jan. 25, under the Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino (4PH) program of the Marcos administration.
The exact number of units to be turned over to awardees will be confirmed by the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), or Pag-IBIG Fund, the city’s Public Information Office said Jan. 23, adding that there are 64 units in Building 1.
Phase 1 of the Asenso Yuhum Residences-Arao project has four buildings at four storeys each, with 296 total units.
The Sangguniang Panlungsod already ratified Jan. 22 the memorandum of agreement entered into by Mayor Alfredo Benitez with Pag-IBIG and private sector proponent WRS Holdings Inc., Scheirman Construction Consolidated Inc., and RS Realty Concepts Developers Inc. on the registration and titling, prior to the turnover of units to awardees.
The units will be registered and titled with the Registry of Deeds and the City Assessor, in the name of HDMF, since it bankrolled the project and the qualified beneficiaries were identified based on the eligibility requirements it provided under its housing loan program.
“The registration and titling of the units directly in the name of HDMF is in accordance with laws and regulations, and not intended to or does not violate any statute or regulation of any government agency or instrumentality,” the MOA states. “In the event that the registration and titling of the units directly in the name of HDMF shall be declared invalid or illegal, the LGU and private sector proponent shall immediately cure the invalidity or illegality, and indemnify HDMF for whatever damages which the latter may incur as a result…”
The 4PH is a flagship program of the Marcos administration that targets the construction of six million housing units by 2028, or one million units per year, to address the country’s housing backlog.
Bacolod is one of the first local government units in the country that entered into a MOA with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), the 4PH program lead agency, with the groundbreaking ceremony for the Asenso Yuhum Village held in September 2022.
DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar, who chairs the Pag-IBIG Fund’s Board of Trustees, earlier vowed that more 4PH units will soon be delivered to beneficiaries, citing the completion of several buildings in various project sites, including in Bacolod City.
“We are now starting to reap the initial results of 4PH projects – decent, safe and affordable housing units in condominium-type developments,” Acuzar said in a statement early this month, adding that it took about two years for these 4PH projects to be realized due to shift to vertical housing or the condominium-type development, and delays in documentary requirements on the part of private partners.
Under the 4PH, the DHSUD is prioritizing condominium buildings to maximize the use of government lands in housing. Acuzar has assured that, just like in commercial condominium projects, all 4PH projects will come with generous open spaces as common areas for parks, playground, and club houses. | CGC
