Veteran Village residents finally get lot grants

By Francis Allan L. Angelo

 

Residents of Barangay Veterans Village Zone 8 in City Proper, Iloilo City were in tears after receiving their Certificate of Lot Awards (CeLA) from the national government on Dec 10, 2020.

After all, it took some of them more or less 40 years to finally formalize their ownership of their respective lots.

The handover of the CeLAs was held at the City Hall last week with Mayor Jerry Treñas and National Housing Authority (NHA)-6 Regional Manager Engr. Antonio P. Del Rosario as witnesses.

An initial 55 residents received their CeLA out of the 355 beneficiaries indicated in Presidential Proclamation 659 issued by former Gloria Arroyo in 2004.

The 22,477-square meter lot was originally set aside for the Central Bank but it was later reserved for socialized housing purposes.

But it took another 16 years before the proclamation was carried out.

On Dec 1, 2020, the Project Inter-Agency Committee (PIAC) passed a resolution to ceremonially award the CeLA to the first batch of beneficiaries this year.

The PIAC is composed of the National Housing Authority (Project Administrator), Department of Human Settlement and Urban Development (formerly the HUDCC), Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Veterans Village Zone 8 Homeowners’ Association, and the Iloilo City Government.

Reste Marion F. Martizano, Designated Community Support Services and Development Chief of NHA-6, said the turnover will continue until 2021 so that they can reach the desired number of 355 recipients as stated in the official beneficiary list of the proclaimed property.

“The proclaimed site was one of my first assignments for the NHA Region 6. I was assigned to lead the re-organization of the committee and the continuous efforts to award the property to the recipients who fought for the area to be proclaimed in 2004,” Martizano said.

The actual award was also stalled by legal concerns raised at the proclamation, but it eventually pushed through.