By Mar T. Supnad
MARIVELES, Bataan –The booming population as compared to the number of residents owning a house in this town has compelled the local government to take radical steps seen to bridge the gap on human settlement concerns.
In a statement, Mariveles Mayor Jocelyn Castañeda hinted on a one-stop shop concept seen to address human settlement concerns in the locality sans the tedious process of having to hop from one office to another or travel from one place to another for documentation purposes.
To address the housing needs of the tens of thousands of residents here, Castańeda announced the creation of the Local Housing Board office mandated to settle once and for all the housing problems and pressing needs of the homeless local folks.
Castañeda, who is also a lawyer, likewise hinted on the need for her homeless constituents to get a decent house they could call their own through the LGU’s housing board office.
“Just imagine, 85 percent of the residents don’t have their own house… It is high-time we create an office to exclusively attend on this pressing concern. We can also provide them lawyers should the need arise,” Mayor Castańeda told Pop News Philippines in an interview over the weekend.
Mayor Castańeda vowed to work hand-in-hand with her homeless constituents, even as she averred: “This is now the time for them to have their own decent housing.”
“This is a One-stop-shop processing center for all our housing development and programs,” said the lawyer-turned mayor.
Among the functions of the said local housing board office is to “focus on the provision to the lowest 30 percent of the population who have no lots yet for their housing.”