AT least 684 families have received land tenure documents under the expanded Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) Program, as the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) resumed the distribution of residential lots covered by presidential proclamations.
The agency said the initiative revives the distribution of Certificates of Lot Award (CELA) and Certificates of Entitlement (COE) for residential lands covered by various presidential proclamations, giving beneficiaries documentary proof of their right to occupy and eventually own the lots.
The first batch of beneficiaries came from residential sites in Los Baños, Laguna; Lucena City, Quezon; Narra, Palawan; and Jaro, Iloilo City, which are covered by Presidential Proclamation Nos. 550, 436, 574 and 1538.
Housing Secretary Jose Ramon Aliling said the expanded program complies with President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s directive to broaden the government’s housing initiatives and address long-pending land tenure concerns.
‘Under the Expanded 4PH Program, we are not only building new housing units,’ Aliling said.
‘We are also giving long-waiting families the certainty of finally becoming legitimate owners of the land where they live.’
He added that the government is speeding up the issuance of land tenure documents to provide more Filipino families with security of tenure and improve their living conditions.
DHSUD said only 24 beneficiaries received CELAs or COEs from 2019 to 2022 because of implementation challenges, including disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic and shifting program priorities.
The agency said the expansion of the 4PH Program enabled it to award 684 land tenure documents in less than a year.
Of the total, 218 beneficiaries were from Los Baños, 195 from Lucena City, 213 from Jaro and 58 from Narra.
DHSUD said many of the recipients had waited for decades before finally receiving documents recognizing their right to occupy and eventually own the land where they had built their homes.