Binay to distribute land titles for the first time as HUDCC chief

For the first time since becoming the head of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), Vice President Jejomar Binay will be handing out land titles to qualified families in Cebu City on Saturday. Binay said he will be distributing 80 certificates of land ownership from the National Housing Authority (NHA) to qualified families who have been residing as informal settlers in Barangay Sambag, Cebu City for the last 40 years. “The Aquino administration is committed to uplifting the lives of poor Filipinos, and this includes providing them with the opportunity to live in dignity and without the fear of being evicted from their homes," he said in a statement on Friday. The vice president said that the land earmarked for awarding to the beneficiaries was donated by the Department of Health to the NHA for its Slum-Upgrading Project. “The cooperation of all concerned government agencies is needed for projects like this to succeed," Binay said, at the same time thanking the DOH and reminding the NHA branch in Cebu to “do its best" to address the beneficiaries’ needs. Once the project is completed, a total of 68,433 square meters of land will be turned into a subdivision with concrete roads and working drainage, water and power systems. The NHA said that some 760 lots have been delineated and will eventually be distributed. Meanwhile, Binay will also join Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and Senators Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Loren Legarda at the grand opening of the One Cebu Expo at the Cebu International Convention Center on Saturday.—Kimberly Jane T. Tan, GMANews.TV