VP cautions against selling housing rights

Vice President Noli de Castro has strongly warned tenants of government-issued housing projects that their housing rights would be forfeited permanently if they sell their property.

De Castro, also the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) chairman, issued the warning during his dialogue with residents of Northville and Southville resettlement sites in Biñan, Laguna, wherein he learned that housing beneficiaries are goaded to sell their housing rights by syndicates in their area.

Members of the alleged syndicates reportedly pass themselves up as community leaders or employees of the National Housing Authority (NHA).

Under the said scheme, a beneficiary rents out his unit to others at a higher cost so that he or she can use it to pay his P200 monthly amortization for his house provided by the government.

De Castro also received reports that almost all housing units in one block are in the custody of a single person as a result of the sale of property rights.

“You can’t acquire titles for your property because it is not under your name. Moreover, those who sold their housing rights can’t avail themselves of the government’s low-cost housing programs anymore because it is a one-time opportunity,” de Castro told the residents in Filipino.

“You don’t own the housing units yet. It belongs to the government until the time that you manage to pay your dues, which are by the way very affordable, in full,” de Castro pointed out.

De Castro also uncovered a similar modus operandi at Northville 7, Barangay Guiguinto, Bulacan, back in May 2007 wherein he called the attention of a barangay councilor who allegedly lent money to residents in exchange for the borrowers’ housing unit contracts with NHA as collaterals and would secure the housing units when the borrowers could not pay back the loan.

“You should really work on paying your dues. Persevere so that you can lead decent lives not only for yourselves but also for your children,” the de Castro.

In another Southville community, de Castro also cautioned the residents against dealing with fixers who help the beneficiaries of the housing units in selling their rights to private individuals.

Under the scheme, fixers would convince the housing beneficiaries to sell the housing rights at P15,000 up to P50,000 (for improved houses), which are relatively lower than the actual cost of government-subsidized housing unit at P150,000 to P175,000.

The tenants of these “sold” houses then rent the government housing units for P600 even if the monthly amortization is only priced at P200. Compounding the government woes is the fact that the renters of the housing units never remit their payments to the NHA.

Under de Castro’s watch, the government was able to clear the crowded railroads and railroad tracks in Metro Manila and certain parts of Luzon of around 90,000 informal settlers.

These around 90,000 informal settlers were relocated to in-city, near-city and off-city relocation sites in Pampanga, Bulacan, Muntinlupa, Laguna and Cavite to decongest Metro Manila and to give way to Philippine National Railways Modernization and Rehabilitation Project. –Llanesca T. Panti, Manila Times