Aired (November 24, 2024): Sa bayan ng Baras sa Rizal matatagpuan dapat ang isang housing project na nakalaan para sa mga residente na maaapektuhan ng paglilinis ng Manila Bay. Pero pagdating sa lugar, mistula itong ghost town. Walang pinto, bintana, walang maayos na palikuran at malayo rin sa mga pangunahing serbisyo ang pabahay.
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00:00The dream of every family is to have a decent and independent house and land.
00:10The government is building houses for the poor.
00:15But according to the reporter's notebook,
00:21some housing projects are in disrepair.
00:26High-rise buildings are being built and are slowly being destroyed.
00:33This is one of the housing units that they say is already completed.
00:37The walls are just basic coating.
00:40The bathroom, aside from the tiles being broken, there is no bathroom.
00:46Here in the bathroom, as you can see, there is no toilet bowl.
00:53The story of some of the residents that we talked to,
00:56to be able to live, they were forced to spend their own money
01:02to fix the housing unit that they moved.
01:06How did these housing projects that are worth millions of pesos end up like this?
01:13It's already destroyed because there is no one left.
01:16The other side is also in ruins.
01:19Life is really hard here. Life is crying here.
01:24Is it like this every day?
01:26Yes, I cry.
01:28Why?
01:30The situation.
01:32Here is his list.
01:36My list of debts.
01:40Each project was funded by the country's money.
01:44That's why we should investigate and ask, where is the money?
01:59In Barangay Pinugay, Baras, Rizal, a housing project was visited by Reporters' Notebook.
02:051,500 units can be found here.
02:09But this is a ghost town.
02:13The housing units have no doors, windows.
02:19There is no proper background.
02:24And it is already covered with thick plants and high tiles.
02:29This is the two Inares Residences.
02:32In the document obtained by Reporters' Notebook from the National Housing Authority or NHA,
02:37the project started on July 2019.
02:41Its original completion date is March 3, 2021.
02:45But it is also included in the document that it was changed and the completion date is now October 2023.
02:51The value of the housing project is more than Php 800 million.
02:55But a year has passed and the houses are still not occupied.
03:03Outside the housing project, we met the resident, Mr. Reinaldo Laguera.
03:09He has been living as a farmer in Barangay Pinugay for 30 years.
03:14It started since the pandemic started.
03:17Mr. Reinaldo wonders why there are still no houses in Barangay Pinugay.
03:22Mr. Reinaldo wonders why there are still no houses in Barangay Pinugay.
03:27A lot of people go there just to look around.
03:30Maybe they are just inquiring.
03:32Since then, no one has come back.
03:34And there is no one living there.
03:35The tiles are already broken.
03:37The people who live there are working.
03:39For example, the door.
03:42That's why it's a mess.
03:44And they will put it there if there are people there.
03:46Because it was stolen.
03:48Like the door.
03:49If you leave the door there, when you come back, it's gone.
03:53The question is,
03:54why are there still not occupying almost 2,000 housing units?
04:00We asked the NHA.
04:03It turns out that the housing project was approved for informal settlers
04:07who will be affected by the cleaning of Manila Bay
04:10according to the Mandamus Order of the Supreme Court.
04:13But the problem is,
04:15One of the hampers of relocation
04:20is that in the past administration, in 2019,
04:24the DILG Circular issued a mandate
04:27that before we move,
04:29there must be a memorandum of agreement
04:35by and between the sending and the receiving.
04:38The problem is,
04:40it's not done by the sending and the receiving.
04:46So that's where the problem is.
04:48That's why there was a total halt
04:50in our relocation.
04:54We also asked the local government of Baras Rizal.
04:58Our town has a population of 80,000.
05:01So the only thing we know is the basic services of our town.
05:06So if we are going to move 80,000 people to Baras,
05:12what are the basic services that we will provide?
05:16That's for those who are going to move.
05:19But the contra to those who will move here,
05:23it's not me.
05:24But it's not just here,
05:26there are housing units in Baras Rizal.
05:30Just a few kilometers from the two Inares residences,
05:33another housing project, Hermosaville, will be found.
05:37In the document obtained by Reporters Notebook
05:39from the NHA Region 4,
05:41October 2022,
05:43this project was declared completed
05:46and is worth Php 731 million.
05:51This housing project has 1,368 units.
05:54But if you include the whole housing project,
05:57most of the units are on rent.
06:00Because as of October 2024,
06:02only 545 units are occupied.
06:05This housing project was built for the residents
06:08affected by the Pasig-Marikina River Channel Improvement Project.
06:15One of the residents of Hermosaville,
06:17is 37-year-old Julia Don.
06:20She moved to this housing project in June this year
06:23from their house,
06:24under the bridge in Cainta Rizal.
06:27How was your situation in Cainta?
06:30Were you flooded?
06:31Yes, we were flooded.
06:33We were always the first to be flooded.
06:36Because we lived under a bridge.
06:40How did you feel when you saw that you have a housing unit?
06:44Of course, we were happy.
06:46But when we were cleaning,
06:50we were about to enter,
06:52but the doors and tiles suddenly rose.
06:57So we had to replace them.
06:59And the doorknob...
07:01It didn't close?
07:03No.
07:04That's why Julia had to clean up the mess in the house.
07:09This is what I did to my husband.
07:12He locked the door.
07:14He couldn't open it.
07:16So I fixed it for him.
07:18This is how he is now.
07:20He's a mess.
07:21When we got there, we just cleaned it up.
07:24And those tiles,
07:26they rose.
07:28So the door closed.
07:31That's why I fixed it.
07:34Julia is with her husband, Juan,
07:37their seven children,
07:38and two grandchildren.
07:40How did they get along?
07:41They are next to each other inside the house.
07:44One is on the floor.
07:47As long as they get along.
07:50Aside from the damage to the house,
07:56they also have a problem with the loss of a loved one.
08:00My husband works in a farm.
08:04When he comes here,
08:06he goes down to work.
08:11Since Julia's husband hasn't sent anything yet,
08:13she had to borrow money from the store.
08:17Here you go, ma'am.
08:21Two eggs and two cups of coffee.
08:25Is it really 100 pesos?
08:27Yes, here's the list.
08:29That's a lot.
08:30It's a lot of money.
08:33How much is it?
08:35It's only for today.
08:37It's just breakfast for my children.
08:39And then they bring the coffee.
08:41They bring it.
08:43The two noodles were prepared by ten members of the family.
08:49Are you the last one to eat?
08:51Yes.
08:52Who's left?
08:53No one.
08:54No one.
08:55I'll wait for the night if there's any.
08:58It's really hard here.
09:00It makes me cry.
09:02Is it like that every day?
09:04Yes.
09:05I cry.
09:06Because?
09:08Because of the situation.
09:11The situation.
09:14Because if you don't find something to eat,
09:17sometimes if there's no food,
09:22you can just borrow milk from the store.
09:28They also have a problem with the lack of facilities in the house.
09:32This is the daycare.
09:35This is where the school is.
09:39But until now?
09:41Nothing.
09:42Nothing.
09:43That's why they said that the school should be prioritized before the covered court.
09:48It's noteworthy that there's no health center in the housing project.
09:53There's a barangay here.
09:55You can ask for help.
09:57But they bring you to the morong if you don't have money.
10:02It's just a story.
10:03The school will be completed.
10:05But we don't rush because we're still new.
10:10But I really want to have a school.
10:12That's why people come here.
10:15The school.
10:16And buying vegetables.
10:18That's the hardest part here.
10:21This is the farm.
10:24This is what we're going to do.
10:26Once it's done, we'll remove it.
10:29We'll plant it while it's not done.
10:32So that we can benefit from it.
10:34It's also stated in the document that aside from the three-story school building,
10:38covered court,
10:40livelihood training center,
10:42health center,
10:43and more,
10:44there should also be a materials recovery facility or MRF in Hermosaville.
10:50But in our continuous visit here,
10:53the garbage is just piled up in a vacant lot.
10:59We're already dropping garbage there.
11:01Because we know what day the garbage will be dropped.
11:05That's why we're throwing it there.
11:06But the problem with others is,
11:08when they enter the house,
11:10because they're in the countryside,
11:11they don't stay in their house.
11:14So when they leave,
11:16they throw garbage even if it's not the day of the dump.
11:20But why are the facilities inside the housing project of the NHA not enough?
11:26The housing budget is separate.
11:28The budget of the community facilities is different.
11:32So in this project,
11:33our budget for community facilities is not enough.
11:39What do you want to say?
11:44I just want to have a livelihood.
11:48For all of us.
11:49I'm not the only one you can help.
11:52All of us.
11:53Because all the people here,
11:55even if you say the house is beautiful,
11:57but when it comes to livelihood,
12:00the people here are poor.
12:02It's just beautiful to look at,
12:03our house,
12:04but it's really poor.