GINGOOG City — Beneficiaries of a city housing project in Gingoog City will no longer face a separate P5,000 to P10,000 government-imposed fine after the City Council approved an amendment removing the penalty clause from the housing ordinance.
The Sangguniang Panlungsod approved the amendment on second reading during its regular session Monday, October 5.
City Councilor Stephanie Marie L. Kho, chairperson of the Committee on Housing, Land Use and Zoning and Urban and Rural Poor Affairs, confirmed the amendment.
The amendment deletes Section 13, or the Penal Sanctions, of City Ordinance No. 2026-438, which covers beneficiaries of the New Jerusalem HomeSeekers Association who were resettled under the Gingoog City Employees Housing Project in Saa Estate Phase I, Barangay 26.
The deleted provision allowed the cancellation of a beneficiary's membership and imposed a fine of not less than P5,000 but not more than P10,000, or both, at the discretion of the Local Housing Board or the court.
Kho said the ordinance was mainly intended to serve as a guide and policy for the homeowners' association and its bylaws.
“Actually that ordinance was made as a guide and policy for their association bylaws. That is why we stipulated penal sanctions,” Kho said.
She said the homeowners' association may instead impose penalties through its own bylaws when members violate their rules.
“They can provide the penalties in their association bylaws. As for the government, our responsibility is only up to the full payment of the housing,” she said.
The amendment says the existing remedies under Sections 6, 8 and 10 are already sufficient, making the separate penalties under Section 13 unnecessary.
Section 6 provides for beneficiary disqualification, while Section 8 covers eviction after an investigation by the Local Housing Board.
Section 10 provides consequences for payment defaults, including interest and administrative charges, and possible repossession of the awarded lot.
The amendment removes only the separate monetary penalty under Section 13 while retaining the other remedies and requirements under the ordinance.
The ordinance also requires beneficiaries to form a homeowners' association registered with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), in accordance with Republic Act No. 9904, or the Magna Carta for Homeowners and Homeowners' Associations.
