• THERESA MAE DULMAN
A total of 104 government employees and Overseas Filipino Workers officially became homeowners yesterday, March 24, following a turnover ceremony for the MassKara Village Government Employee Housing Project in Purok Badiang, Barangay Sum-ag, Bacolod City.
The project was spearheaded by the National Housing Authority (NHA) as part of a program to provide secure and accessible low cost housing for government employees and OFWs.
Among the units turned over during the ceremony, 45 were processed through the in-house financing of the NHA, while 59 were finalized through loan takeouts via the Pag-IBIG Fund.
The MassKara Village is a 7.3-hectare socialized housing development that features 500 units.
The community is designed with a balance of residential and open space, with 60 percent of the land dedicated to housing and the remaining 40 percent allocated for roads and infrastructure.
Each housing unit is a two-storey duplex with an 80-square-meter lot area and a 60-square-meter floor area, featuring two bedrooms and two bathrooms.
Each unit is valued at approximately P2.2 million, with monthly amortizations estimated at P15,000 over a 30-year term through Pag-IBIG financing.
According to NHA Region 6 Manager Engr. Rizalino Cabahug, construction on the village began in 2018 and sales officially opened in 2025.
He said development marks the second major NHA housing project in Negros Occidental, following a 750-unit project previously completed in Talisay City.
One of the first to receive a home was Gregoria Despoho, mother of an OFW based in Thailand.
“It’s beautiful, and I am so grateful to my children and to the Lord because, through their hard work, we were able to invest in this home,” she said.
Her family used to live in an informal settlement in Punta Taytay, where they struggled with a leaking roof, before moving to La Castellana, only to be among those severely affected by Typhoon Tino.*
