THE 36-member Quezon City council has given Mayor Herbert Bautista the green light to allocate a government-owned property in Barangay Tandang Sora for the development of a socialized housing site.
Bautista signed Ordinance 2539, designating a 1,000-square meter lot to build homes for the informal settlers residing in the area for 40 years, and who have organized themselves into a homeowners’ association.
The measure authored by District 6 Councilor Marivic Co-Pilar will benefit bona fide members of MCP II Bagong Pag-asa Homeowners Association Inc.
Under the ordinance, the lot to be developed as a socialized housing site in Barangay Tandang Sora has been acquired by the city government through public auction last May 2014 and has never been redeemed within the one year redemption period as provided for in Section 261 of Republic Act 7160, otherwise known as the Local Government Code of 1991.
“To facilitate the development and improvement of the aforesaid property, there is a compelling need to declare it as Socialized Housing Site in order for the residents to avail of various benefits and exemptions accorded to socialized housing beneficiaries under, but not limited to, Republic Act No. 7279 and Batas Pambansa Bilang 220,” the ordinance read.
Meanwhile, the Student Council Alliance of the Philippines has partnered with the city’s Sexually Transmitted Diseases/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Council in its advocacy to stop the spread of human immunodeficiency virus.
According to Bautista, with over a hundred student council leaders from major universities and colleges, SCAP is expected to boost AIDS awareness program of the city government and would hamper the alarming increase in the number of infections among the youth.