Building Permit for Three Row House Designs Approved for Pope Francis Village

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After almost two months of persistent negotiations and lobby work with Tacloban City Housing Office and engineering department, building officials finally approved and released the building permit for 3 row house designs of FRANCESCO’s integrated and people-driven in-city relocation project. This is an important milestone for communities who played a compelling role in several dialogues with city authorities for the purpose of securing exemptions from building permit fees and other related charges. 

Approved row-house designs for Pope Francis Village;
Photo credit: FRANCESCO, Inc.

 “I feel relieved that we now have a full grip of our building permit. This is like a step closer to getting a house that we can claim our own”, says Yolanda Sembrero, one of the frontline leaders involved in building permit processing.

Mrs. Sembrero also recounted a few challenges and takeaways that they have experienced in dealing with the LGU. They were initially apprised by the City Engineering Office that with their submitted housing design prototypes, they will be charged of relatively higher fees. Out of determination, the community negotiated for full exemption since the housing project was conceived primarily to cater to poor Typhoon Yolanda survivors.  

One of the prerequisites for fee exemption and approval of the building permit is a certification from the City Housing Office stating that the community is entitled to such.  
However, the issuance of the certification was hampered by the need to generate a masterlist of qualified beneficiaries from the Urban Poor Associates (UPA), the organization taking the lead in beneficiary selection and social preparation activities.  The UPA complied with this requirement in lieu of the exigency of the building permit approval. Validation and counterchecking of beneficiary listing vis-à-vis the masterlist of National Housing Authority further delayed the process. As a countermeasure, the community leaders drafted a letter addressed to the City Mayor of Tacloban requesting for the latter’s assistance to grant the exemption and expedite the release of the building permit.

Mr. Uldarico Tañare of Tacloban City Engineering Office
 releasing the approved building permit to community leaders
of Pope Francis Village; Photo credit: Ar. Christopher Padre
Immediately after the letter was endorsed by the City Mayor, the community leaders made subsequent follow-ups with the City Housing Office. There maybe a few heated exchanges on the rigid process that they went through, but the City Housing Office eventually released the certification to the community. The building permit was approved and released last February 5, 2016 as a result  of the strong collaboration of  community leaders,  FRANCESCO technical, secretariat and social teams. 


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