Indigenous people (IP) in Puerto Princesa City, especially those who have no permanent houses, can avail of the government’s housing project, the National Housing Authority (NHA)- Palawan said on Tuesday.
Amelia Romero, provincial head of NHA-Palawan, explained that their agency can fund P20 million worth of housing project as long as the housing site is available, or the IP community should have a site within their Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) area allocated for housing.
“Pwedeng mag-finance ang NHA ng P20 million. Basta may CADT sila ay maka-avail sila. Ang gagawin ay magsulat lang sila at ito ay e-endorse lang ng city government,” she said.
She explained that they have released funding support to more than 500 IP families. NHA Palawan has existing housing projects for IPs in Brooke’s Point and Culion. There are P10-million each or a total of P20-million for 130 IP families in Brookes Point and 400 IP families in Brgy. Carabao, Culion, Palawan.
“Depende sa needs ng mga IP. Kung vision nila na magkaroon ng sariling bahay ay tutulungan natin sila. Kung nandyan yung enthusiasm ng tribu o ng mga pamilya na magkaroon sila ng desenteng bahay,” she said.
She said that the funds intended for the housing project will be downloaded to the accounts of the City Government of Puerto Princesa since the local government will implement the project.
“Ang pera ay e-transfer yan sa city government kasi LGU ang mag-implement. Dapat maging masigasig lang sila (IPs). Kung gusto nila ay pwede kaming magpunta sa sites mismo,” she said.
Romero said that they communicated with the indigenous communities in Coron and Busuanga for possible implementation of IP housing projects in these towns, but it did not materialize yet due to lacking documents.
“Kulang pa ang mga papeles itong sa mga IPs ng Coron at Busuanga, kailangan talaga ng kanilang aktibong pakikilahok,” she explained.