VP NOLI TO START WORK ON SCOUT RANGERS' VILLAGE
27January
2006
The Housing
and Urban Development
Coordinating Council (HUDCC) under Vice President Noli “Kabayan” De
Castro will
begin working immediately on the First Scout Rangers Village Housing
Project to
be developed within Camp Tecson in San Miguel, Bulacan.
Agreement signed for
Scout Rangers Housing Project. Vice President Noli
“Kabayan” de Castro
applauds the formal turnover of the signed Memorandum of Agreement
between Dave
Puyat, Director, Manila Banking Corporation, and General Danilo Lim,
Commanding
General, First Scout Ranger Regiment. The Agreement provides for the
development of a 50-hectare land area donated by the Manila Banking
Corporation
and the Puyat family for the housing needs of officers and enlisted men
of the
AFP-First Scout Ranger Regiment (AFP-FSRR) through its Scout Ranger
Multi-Purpose Cooperative. The project, which will be known as
the First
Scout Ranger Housing
Village,
will benefit
1,476 officers and personnel of the AFP-FSRR. Looking on are
Benjamin
Yambao, President, Manila Banking Corporation, Atty. Romulo Fabul,
Commissioner, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, and San Miguel
Mayor Pop
Buencamino (partially hidden). (photo by:
Patricio Roel Pira)
This
was disclosed by the Vice
President during the signing of the Memorandum of Agreement between the
Manila
Banking Corporation (Manilabank) , the HUDCC, Department of Budget and
Management (DBM), National
Housing Authority (NHA), First Scout Ranger
Regiment
Multi-Purpose Cooperative (FSRRMPC) and the Pag-IBIG Fund for the said
project.
“HUDCC
will work closely with the Manila
Bank
to effect the transfer of the land to NHA,
which will
manage the
development and the disposition of lots to the beneficiaries,” De
Castro said.
Manila
Bank and the Puyat family
has donated a 50-hectare portion of the bank’s property in Camp Tecson
to be developed as a housing project for the First Scout Rangers.
“Our
partner from the private
sector really played a paramount role in this undertaking, because
their
donation of land solves one-half of the problem in making this village
a
reality. We are extremely grateful to Manila Bank and the Puyat
family,” the
Vice President added.
He
revealed that the NHA, under
the supervision of the HUDCC,
“will immediately initiate the bidding
process to
choose a private developer that will work on the project under a joint
venture
program.”
The DBM
will
allocate a P200
million fund for the project, while the Pag-IBIG Fund will open a
special
window to facilitate the processing of housing loans of qualified
beneficiaries
from First Scout Rangers.
De
Castro said this is just the
latest of several housing projects of the government specifically for
Filipino
soldiers.
The
HUDCC
and the Department of
National Defense also have projects in various stages of
development in
Cagayan de Oro, Camp Aquino in Tarlac, Camp
Tinio
in Cabanatuan,
Camp Riego de Dios in Cavite, Fort Del
Pilar in Baguio, BonifacioHeights
in Taguig, and Fort
Magsaysay
in Nueva Ecija.
“Aside
from these, we are also
processing the proclamation of portions of various idle government
properties
as off-base housing sites. With or without rumors of a coup, we will
continue
to do our duty of providing opportunities for housing for our
soldiers.” De
Castro added.