Marikina families get land titles
‘The problem of squatting, as they say, is that they live on land that is not theirs. This is our solution. Social Housing Finance Corporation is helping them to buy and let them live on land.’
‘The problem of squatting, as they say, is that they live on land that is not theirs. This is our solution. Social Housing Finance Corporation is helping them to buy and let them live on land.’
More than 240 families in Marikina City have received land titles after nearly three decades of living on the property through the Enhanced Community Mortgage Program (ECMP) under the government’s Expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program.
The beneficiaries are members of three homeowners associations in Barangay Fortune — Solid Santan Homeowners’ Association Inc., Samahang Pinagkaisang Maralita ng Santan Homeowners’ Association Inc. and Juancho Pacheco Homeowners’ Association Inc.
Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling and Social Housing Finance Corp. President and CEO Federico Laxa awarded the transfer certificates of title to the beneficiaries, along with Marikina 2nd District Rep. Miro Quimbo.
The families had occupied the communities since the 1990s but lacked formal proof of ownership. Laxa said the Community Mortgage Program allows low-income communities to acquire the land they occupy through long-term, low-interest loans.
“The problem of squatting, as they say, is that they live on land that is not theirs. This is our solution. Social Housing Finance Corporation is helping them to buy and let them live on land,” Laxa said.
Boundless joy
He said loans are payable over 25 to 30 years, with monthly amortization averaging no more than P500.
Since the launch of the ECMP, SHFC has approved 47 projects benefiting nearly 9,000 people, Laxa said. The agency has about 40 pending applications and is seeking additional congressional funding for the program.
Quimbo said the distribution of titles fulfilled a long-standing goal of residents to secure ownership of their homes.
“You cannot measure the happiness that this brings, not only in peace, but also in the prosperity of their families,” Quimbo said.
“Our dream is that there should be no more informal settlers or squatters here in Marikina. Everyone should have a place to live, to have peace of mind, their home, where the land that they should pass should be protected,” he added.
