BACOLOD City – Informal settler families (ISFs) of Barangay 12 in this city finally have an assured relocation site.
The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP), during its regular session on Wednesday, Feb. 14, has ratified the deed of absolute sale signed by Mayor Alfredo Abelardo Benitez on behalf of the local government and the corporate secretary of the Del Rio Realty and Development of Bacolod Inc.
More than 30 qualified ISFs of the said barangay will be relocated due to the redevelopment project of SM Prime Holdings Inc. under the 40-year term lease agreement for the 16,875-square meter lot property across the mall.
The affected families have yet to demolish their structures since awaiting the securing of a relocation site. The relocation site at Barangay Vista Alegre could no longer accommodate them.
Last year, Benitez held a dialogue with the affected residents who asked for a relocation site despite being offered a place in the city’s housing project for the reason that they could not afford to pay the monthly amortization for the tenement.
But, since the city has engaged in land banking, they will now have a site in Barangay Granada which is adjacent to the existing relocation site in Barangay Vista Alegre.
The lot property purchased by the city is 179,087 square meters with a total value of P268,630,500, or an equivalent of P1,500 per square meter.
Secretary to the Mayor Karol Joseph Chiu said the city will pay the property from a portion of the city’s P4.4 billion loan granted by the Development Bank of the Philippines previously.
The site in Barangay Granada, he noted, is not just for residential but also suitable for mixed-use./PN
