Mirasol Village families receive land ownership awards

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By Rjay Zuriaga Castor

What began as a prolonged housing struggle for hundreds of families in Mandurriao took a major step toward permanence after the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) awarded land certificates to 367 households Wednesday, Feb. 4.

The Certificate of Lot Award (CELA) granted to members of the Mirasol Village Homeowners Association Inc. covers a 20,240-square-meter property in Barangay Dungon C, Mandurriao.

A CELA is a legal document issued by the DHSUD that provides secure land tenure to qualified beneficiary families, particularly informal settlers and organized homeowners’ associations.

The document formalizes ownership or long-term occupancy rights over designated lots, transitioning families from precarious housing arrangements to permanent tenure.

The distribution was led by DHSUD Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling, Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) President and Chief Executive Officer Federico Laxa, and Iloilo City Lone District Rep. Julienne Baronda.

The beneficiaries received their land titles through the Enhanced Community Mortgage Program (ECMP), a flagship housing initiative administered by the SHFC, a DHSUD subsidiary.

The ECMP upgrades the original Community Mortgage Program by providing collective financing for land acquisition, allowing associations to secure loans backed by government subsidies to purchase titled properties from landowners.

For the Mirasol Village project, DHSUD released a PHP 46.552 million check for the purchase of the 20,240-square-meter property and an additional PHP 2.6 million for title processing.

The land was originally valued at PHP 2,800 per square meter in 2019, but prices later rose to between PHP 3,500 and PHP 5,000 per square meter before negotiations were finalized.

Local officials and the homeowners’ association negotiated a PHP 500-per-square-meter top-up, restoring the final price to PHP 2,800 per square meter to meet the SHFC board’s approval requirements.

Under the program, beneficiaries will pay PHP 1,150 per month over a 30-year period.

Baronda said addressing Iloilo City’s estimated 22,000-unit housing backlog requires grassroots action and sustained collaboration between national and local governments.

“We should start addressing our housing backlog from bottom to top. Joint partnerships between the national and local governments are a big step in addressing the housing backlog every year,” Baronda said.

“This awarding of CELA is more than just a formal ceremony; it is a masterclass of what happens when the heart moves. This is a real definition of public-private partnership working hand in hand to find a fair solution,” she added.

On the same day, 250 fire survivors from various barangays in Iloilo City also received essential recovery kits to help them begin rebuilding their homes.