Around 9,000 families in Marikina City, or 70 percent of its community associations, through the help of the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC), attained security of land tenure, Mayor Marcelino Teodoro said yesterday.

According to Teodoro, Marikina is now free from illegal settlers.

”I can proudly say that we no longer have illegal settlers because of our people-oriented projects and the help of the SHFC,” he said.

“Since 1992, of the 246 community associations in Marikina, 166 or almost 70 percent already attained security of land tenure. From this, 90 communities underwent the CMP (Community Mortgage Program). This translates to more than 9,000 families who were aided by the SHFC,” he said during a speech at the GSIS Gym in Pasay City, where SHFC held the 31st anniversary of its Community Mortgage Program, the agency’s flagship initiative.

“These 9,000 families that you have helped are content and peacefully living, without fear of being evicted,” he added.

The Marikina mayor congratulated the SFHC on its anniversary, saying, “It has not been an easy feat implementing the CMP, which is consistently providing opportunities to organize families into sustainable and resilient communities.”

He noted that Marikina has been a partner of the agency for almost 27 years in improving the living conditions of the homeless and underprivileged through affordable financing.

“The affordable financing of SFHC provides the opportunity to secure tenure on the land that has been their home for the longest time,” Teodoro reiterated.

During the event, Sen. Francis Tolentino lauded Teodoro and the local government of Marikina City for their relentless effort in improving the lives of residents by providing them with lots.

Lawyer Arnolfo Ricardo Cabling, the president of SFHC, also commended Teodoro and said that the coordination with local governments plays a very important role in their work of providing resilient and sustainable communities to people.