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.
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