Ben Madilynn
A THIRD residential building is set to rise next year at the Tipolo Residences in Barangay Tipolo, Mandaue City, with a proposed budget allocation of P160 million.
City Budget Officer Giovanni Tianero said the project is part of the City’s proposed P4.5 billion budget for 2025, during the “Story Ta! A Move to Good Governance and Transparency” forum held on Thursday, Sept. 19, 2024.
If approved by the City Council, the 2025 budget will also go to infrastructure projects and essential social services, including health.
The upcoming building, funded entirely by the city government, aims to provide housing for other informal settlers.
Suspended Mayor Jonas Cortes, who was a special guest during the forum, said the City’s efforts to address housing issues continue.
“Naa nay mga sites and lot acquisition for socialized housing including sa mga government employees nga walay mga own homes”, said Cortes.
(There are already sites and lot acquisitions for socialized housing, including for government employees who don’t have their own homes.)
Cortes said beyond the Tipolo site, the City is also looking at six other socialized housing locations spread across barangays Looc, Opao, Cambaro,
Paknaan, and two areas in Subangdaku.
The Tipolo Residences project, which already includes two completed buildings, is part of the initiative to shelter displaced families and informal settlers.
Its Building 1 was City-funded while Building 2 was donated by the real estate developer, Cebu Landmasters Inc., as part of its compliance with the Socialized Balanced Housing Act.
To fund future development, Buildings four and five in Tipolo Residences have been enrolled under the national government’s Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program, spearheaded by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to support the completion of these structures.
Furthermore, the City is also planning a separate socialized housing project for government employees, which will be built in Barangay Subangdaku.
Recently, the two completed condominium-style buildings in Tipolo were handed over to 192 families displaced by fires in Barangays Tipolo, Guizo, and Mantuyong in 2016 and 2019.
Many of these families had previously been living inside the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) and among these families living in CICC was being relocated to temporary housing in Barangays Guizo and Paknaan. / CAV
