[ Manila Bulletin Online ] June 2, 2008
By DEL VILLANUEVA
BACOOR, Cavite — Bacoor Mayor Strike Revilla lauded the other day the launching by a locally based realty developer of a new housing community that caters to the shelter needs of high-income and middle-income families.
Mayor Revilla said the "soft launching" of Victoria Ville in Barangay Panapaan 3, this town by E.V.Y. Development Corp. is very timely and jibes with his proposal for a shifting of focus on the construction of quality high-end houses from low-cost housing units.
Victoria Ville is a three-hectare choice property located near the Aguinaldo Highway, this town.
It is located beside the Cavite School of Life (CSL), considered as one of the best private schools in the province. CSL is owned by businessman Ernie Yu.
In an interview with the Manila Bulletin following the launching and blessing rites for the Victoria Ville, Mayor Revilla said that his administration will revise the municipal development plan, particularly in the field of housing, in view of the growing socio-economic problems caused by rapid urbanization and migration of people to this "gateway town of Cavite."
He said that he has asked the sangguniang bayan headed by Vice Mayor Rosette Miranda Fernando to pass a resolution that would impose a moratorium on the construction of low-cost housing projecs.
The objective, Revilla said, is to reduce, if not stop altogether, the influx of people to this town. The crowding of people, particularly poor folk, is causing a drain in the limited resources of the municipal government.
"We are required to deliver to poor villages basic services such garbage collection and security because the villagers have no resources for such services," the mayor said.
"Instead of encouraging the construction of low-cost housing projects, the municipal government will adopt a policy encouraging real estate developers to undertake projects suited for the shelter needs of high- and middle-income families," he also said.
These high-end communities, he said, are practically self-sustaining because they can take care of the delivery of basic services to the villagers, the mayor said.
He said there are more than 200 subdivisions in this town, but only a handful are considered first-class.
"I have observed that the problems pertaining to lighting facilities, social hygiene, and sanitation as well as education plague low-cost subdivisions, and the residents there approach the municipal government for assistance," he said.
Residents of upscale subdivisions who are up to date in the payment of real property tax do not expect much from the municipal government, he said.
_______________________________________________________________________
