To carry out its mission of making lives better, Southwestern University (SWU) PHINMA did not stop with just providing quality and affordable education to the students as it took an initiative to create a program offering houses to Informal Settler Families (ISFs).
The constructed edifice is intended for the 277 ISFs of Sitio Pailob. The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with Pag-ibig Housing, Community Developers and Construction Corporation, and the Cebu City Government, as well as the Notice of Awards of ISFs and other qualified beneficiaries took place on June 26, 2018, with the attendance of honored guests spearheaded by the University’s Chief Operations Officer Albert L. Gamboa.
Project Features
The Socialized Housing (SoHo) Project, dubbed as the Riverside Village, is situated at a one-hectare SWU PHINMA property at Sitio Pailob, Sambag II, Cebu City, which will be developed by PHINMA Properties.
The two five-story medium-rise building has a total of 238 typical 21 square-meter studio-type unit.
It features a bare cement finish on its walls and a ceramic tile finish on the floor. A wall-mounted water closet faucet, a floor drain on its bathroom, a stainless-steel sink in its kitchen, and a sprinkler.
The Riverside Village has 14 parking slots, a guard post, a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), and a complete 24-hour roving security system.
Project Accessibility
PHINMA group’s first in-city housing project is not only safe and secure but also offers accessibility to commercial and business establishments, schools, and hospitals.
For residents to reach 138 Cebu, Gaisano Capital South, Ayala Center Cebu, Gaisano Capital Tisa, and SM City Cebu, it will only take 12 up to 21 minutes of jeepney ride to reach these shopping centers.
Riverside residents can quickly access health services, for it will only take 11 to 15 minutes to reach Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, Southwestern Medical Center, Chong Hua Hospital, and the Philippine Red Cross.
Moreover, it will only take 14 to 18 minutes for students to reach any of the three schools: Southwestern University PHINMA, Labangon Elementary School, and University of San Carlos –South Campus.
In an interview with The Quill, SWU PHINMA’s Community Development Consultant Heide Foulc said that given the hostile environment of the place before, they wanted to provide houses for which families can call their own.
“It took us 10 months to make 124 families out of 277 believe that they can change their lives, that they can become homeowners rather than squatters,” she stated.
Before the semester ends, 124 families of Sitio Pailob and 58 SWU PHINMA faculty and staff who signed up for the housing project will occupy the units.
The first building is already done and is just waiting to be turned over while the second building is currently under construction.
True enough, SWU PHINMA is committed to helping each citizen make their lives better not only through education but also by providing them their basic needs. It is not just a mere institution which provides quality education but a school dedicated to create a safe and harm-free community.
