The Department of Transportation (DOTr) on Wednesday, July 12, awarded 50 housing units to informal settler families (ISFs) affected by the P873 billion North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) Project.
DOTr Secretary Jaime J. Bautista led the turnover ceremony held in Barangay Calulut, San Fernando, Pampanga, together with officials from the Philippine National Railways (PNR), San Fernando, Pampanga City Government and the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).
Secretary Bautista said each housing unit has an area of 27 sqm built in a 48-sqm lot, complete with one bedroom, living room, kitchen and sink, toilet and bathroom, and backyard space for laundry or other purposes.
Installed with electricity and running water, the house and the lot cost P741,000 that the ISF beneficiaries will pay in 30 years at P500 per month.
“Sa proyektong ito, hindi lang po natin hangad na magkaroon ng magandang transpotasyon. Kailangan din po nating suportahan ang mga taong nakapaligid na naapektuhan sa paggawa ng railway system,” Secretary Bautista said.
“Hindi lang po ito pabahay, may kasama ring kabuhayan. Tutulungan po naming kayo na magkaroon ng mas magandang buhay paglipat niyo po dito. Kami po ay umaasa na aalagaan niyo ang mga pabahay na ito, napakaganda po. Napakaayos ang pagkagawa, bagay na bagay para sa ating mga kababayan,” the DOTr chief added.
DOTr Undersecretary for Railways Cesar B. Chavez said the 50 ISFs are the first batch of beneficiaries of the DOTr’s relocation program—selected and approved by the Local Inter-Agency Committee (LIAC) of City of San Fernando, Pampanga.
The ISFs were relocated due to health and safety issues and within the main line and the area of priority construction.
In San Fernando, Pampanga alone, the NSCR Project would affect 1,138 non-land owners who will be relocated in Barangay Calulut, where 67 rowhouse units were built of which 50 units were awarded today to the first batch of beneficiaries.
Another relocation site in San Fernando is Barangay Panipuan where 243 rowhouse units were constructed with pending electricity service. The ISFs are expected to occupy the rowhouse units in the third quarter of 2023.
The development features of the relocation sites include concrete roads and alleys, underground drainage system, individual metered service connection for electricity and water and individual septic tank.
Undersecretary Chavez said the relocated ISFs are also assured of access to education, job opportunities, healthcare and basic social services.
“In the communities where the relocation sites are located, the existing facilities include high school, covered basketball court, livelihood training center, rural health unit, flea market, police and barangay tanod outpost, tricycle terminal and material recovery facility,” the DOTr railway official said.
