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Excuse us while we try to wrap our heads around this.
“After decades of occupying the Batasang Pambansa Complex (BPC) in Quezon City as an ‘informal settler,’ the House of Representatives on Wednesday was formally conveyed the ownership and management of the 19-hectare compound in ceremonies held at the Speaker’s Social Hall of the main building,” reports Philippine News Agency in Manila Bulletin.
The conveyance was done through a memorandum of agreement signed between the House leadership led by Speaker Sonny Belmonte and the National Housing Authority (NHA), which was led by its general manager Chito Cruz.
Belmonte explained that “the Batasan complex is now, for all intents and purposes, formally titled to the House of Representatives, a feat that was forty years in the making.”
The report noted: “The BPC is part of larger lot that was designated to become a national government center in 1974 during the time of the late President Ferdinand Marcos.” But, well, a lot of legal complications (and whatever else) got in the way.
The report added: “Through the years and through different administrations after the House of Representatives building was built, informal settlers sprouted around the complex to the point where half of the Interim Batasang Pambansa Road was occupied by informal settlers.”
Photo: Gov.ph
