Thursday, September 24, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES [ BusinessWorld Online ]
ILOILO CITY — A property developer is introducing to Ilonggos a housing project using low-cost Korean technology.
Tagaytay Mountain Peak Corp. will use prefabricated, fireproof double-steel panels with two-inch Styrofoam in between for the wall and roof of each of the 100 housing units in Friendship Village. The panels are imported from Hankuk Steel-Iron Manufacturing & Construction Co. in South Korea.
"Since the imported Korean-manufactured panels are already pre-cut and polished, we can install an entire unit within 15 days," said Tagaytay Mountain Peak representative Maria Jusel Arquillo in an interview.
The subdivision will rise on an initial one-hectare property at Brgy. Tabuc Suba, Jaro, Iloilo City.
For as low as P585,000, Ilonggos may avail themselves of the opportunity to own a permanent 30-square-meter home on a 70-square-meter lot.
In the long run, the new village will accommodate at least 500 one- and two-bedroom houses on a five-hectare estate.
The long-term plan is to expand it across 70 hectares of land straddling barangays Tabuc Suba, Tacas and San Isidro.
Ms. Arquillo said the firm has coordinated with the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) in Western Visayas to make the low-cost units available on installment terms to Pag-IBIG members.
Ms. Arquillo said the firm has briefed Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas on the advantages of mass housing for Ilonggos using low-cost Korean technology.
"It is fireproof, waterproof, soundproof, heat-breaking, and permanent," she added.
A unique feature of panel technology is that the unit could be dismantled and transferred to a new location.
Ms. Arquillo said the steel components of each unit — although reliant on nuts and bolts — would also be welded together for added strength and resistance to earthquakes and typhoons.
They are also implanted on six-inch cement flooring. Expanded models with hollow-block and wood components are also available.
The technology is not really new to the Philippines. In fact, Korean panel homes have already sprouted in Tagaytay and Dasmariñas in Cavite in the past nine years.
A team of Korean engineers led by Park Byeong Seop are in Iloilo City to train local personnel in home installation.
A model home, hollow-block factory and showroom will be constructed for public viewing next month in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.- — Francis Allan L. Angelo
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