POPE FRANCIS VILLAGE

The Urban Poor Associates (UPA) spearheaded three separate consultations with eleven clustered homeowners associations (HOAs) to refine their list of members who will avail of permanent housing from Pope Francis Village (PFV). The activity was held at the activity area of Pope Francis Village in Barangay 99 Diit, yesterday.  Prior to the start of land development and house construction, 550 families passed the initial screening process facilitated by UPA based on agreed qualification criteria for the PFV. The masterlist was submitted to the City Government through the City Housing Office.  However as physical development unfolds,  the social team sees the need to revisit and update the listing as there were some families who voluntarily withdrew their application and chose to avail of other housing projects. There's quite a few who are still being evaluated and may be possibly delisted on the ground of non-compliance with the agreements stated in the covenant entered into

At first sight, I was impressed by the brick-laden land mark, well-paved roads, and seemingly sturdy rowhouses. I'm sure others will have the same first impression upon entering this public relocation project in Barangay Cabalawan. As we got closer to the interiors of the permanent housing project which was supposed to be an asylum for no less than a thousand typhoon Yolanda survivors, I blew off from what I've seen as a total contrast.   The entrance to Ridge View Park, a relocation project  of National Housing Authority and the City Gove The project involves the provision of 2,000 rowhouse units to typhoon Yolanda-affected families.  Exterior paint cannot conceal the substandard and poorly-built structures often misconstrued by outsiders as a humane disaster rehabilitation assistance. Who is apt to believe that a housing unit costs Php293,000 when right in front of you are rowhouses which lack reinforcement and wall forms  not properly aligned with ground reinf