Urban Slum Areas

[bustero]

In order to get your license to sell , every new project must undertake to build the equivalent of 20% of the land (can be done elsewhere, not neccesarily in the same project site e.g. your nice project in makati, your socialized project in cavite) or value of the project for socialized housing (this is the really cheap 200 peso variety - with total incentives to make it buildable - no taxes of any sort , even income, vat etc). All developers do this or they will have to buy "credits" with other developers who specialize in this market. Actually almost all the big ones just do it as it's so easy to sell these things anyway, it can be 100 financed by Pagibig and teh amortization is like 2000 a month lang so a minimum wage earner in NCR would qualify easily.

[bustero]

Actually some of those buildings are quite tall, even if they're low cost like GA, of course at that level they are not strictly low cost but more middle market already.

[Miguel]

Originally Posted by GreyX

Even England's 9th richest man under 30 has commited himself fulltime to this project. He sold is BMW M3 in England and built a Village which he now calls the BMW M3 Village. And using his Computer Gaming Company (England's Largest) he contributes to build even more communties. He now resides in the Philippines working for GK.

Originally Posted by SKYLINEPIGEON

did u watch pipol featuring that young british millionaire who find his peace of mind in the philippines and help built the homes of the poor squatters in payatas

I received an e-mail about this English millionnaire guy some time ago. His name is Dylan (don't know if that is his first or last name).

Hero of Faith
from: Face-to-face with inspiring people with Bo Sanchez

Dylan was born to a poor family. But at the young age of 20, he started a computer games company that made him a millionaire. Soon, Dylan operated in nine countries and ran his own TV channel. Then at the age of 25, Dylan sold his company for multi-million British pounds. He became the ninth richest person in the Great Britain under the age of 30. But one night, while lying-on bed, he was distressed by a nagging question that wouldn't let him sleep.

"God, why am I rich?"

He asked if there was a reason for his immense wealth. Ironically, he also felt terribly empty inside. This, despite his ability to have any kind of pleasure he wanted. He had just bought himself a brand-new Ferrari and took one holiday after another. But he was discovering that pleasure was like fire it constantly needed more fuel to keep it going. And he realized he would never be happy in the path he was taking.

One day, a Filipina friend visited him. She said she felt guilty going there because her plane fare could have built two homes for the poor. That made Dylan pause. How can you build two houses for that measly amount? He decided to investigate. In January 2003, he visited the Philippines. And for three hours, COUPLES FOR CHRIST, Gawad Kalinga (GK) Director Tony Meloto brought Dylan to different GK villages for the poor. With his own eyes, he saw something that would change his life forever...

Bo: What did you see on that day?
Dylan: I saw hope. More than newly built houses, I saw transformed lives. We were entering rather dangerous slums, breeding ground for thieves and kidnappers -yet in the middle of that was an oasis -the Gawad Kalinga village. I saw people smiling, men working, children laughing... I've seen many other projects in South East Asia and across the world. And I've never seen anything like GK. This was different. This really worked!

Bo: So what did you do after your trip?
Dylan: I went back to England. I saw my BMW parked in the garage and realized I could build 80 homes with it -and affect the lives of 600 people. I saw the faces of the children I could help. I called up Tony Meloto and told him I was thinking of donating $100,000 to Gawad Kalinga and asked him if that was okay. ..

Bo: What did Tony say?
Dylan: He said, "No, I don't want your money."

Bo: Only Tony can say some- thing like that. (Laughs.)
Dylan: He said if I was really serious in working for the poor, I should go back to the Philippines. So two months later, I sold my BMW and flew back to Manila. And in June of that year, I made a decision to stay in the Philippines and work for GK for seven more years.

Bo: Wow.
Dylan: I've decided to invest in the poor of the Philippines. Not in stocks or bonds. If I can help in uplifting the poor of this country, I can say that I spent my life well.

Bo: I presume your family wasn't too crazy about that decision.
Dylan: No! They thought I was brainwashed by a religious cult! (Laughs.) So my mother came and spied on me. But she was soon convinced of the beautiful work we were doing and went back home and told my sister about it. And my sister said, "Oh no, they brainwashed you too!" (Laughs.) But today, all of them support what I do.

Bo: You've made a decision to give up your wealth for the Filipino poor.
Dylan: I don't see it as a sacrifice. When you give charity out of pity, you feel pain parting with your money. But when you give charity because you love, you don't feel that pain. You only feel the joy of giving to someone you love. That's what I feel.

Bo: I hear you built an entire village for GK in Bulacan.
Dylan: I don't see it as my village. I just provided the materials. Architects, engineers, volunteers gave their labor. Together, we built 63 houses for the poor.

Bo: Amazing. What else do you do?
Dylan: I go around the world telling everyone that Filipinos are heroic. Because I work with them every day -the volunteers of GK.

Bo: What do you see in the Filipino that we take for granted?
Dylan: You're hardworking. You're always laughing, always eating, always singing. Even in your problems. You're loyal. And honest. Sure, there are exceptions, but generally, that's been my experience. And you have the bayanihan spirit. The pyramids of Egypt are beautiful but they were built by slavery. GK villages are more beautiful because they're made through the bayanihan spirit of the Filipino. It's especially this bayanihan and love of family and community that makes the Filipino more valuable than gold. If you take a golden nugget and kick it on the floor for 400 years, afterwards you won't be able to see much gold, just mud. This was what happened to the Filipino - for 400 years you were slaves and then you suffered under dictatorship and corruption. This is where the crab mentality came from; I don't think it's a natural ! Filipino quality because every day I see the gold under the surface of ordinary Filipinos. If we wipe away the mud by bringing hope and being brothers to one another in bayanihan, the gold will shine through and the world will see it.

Bo: Let me get personal here. I hear that you don't only love the Filipinos, but you've fallen for a particular Filipina.
Dylan: (Smiles.) Two months ago, I married Anna Meloto, the eldest daughter of Tony Meloto. She grew up with the GK work, so we're totally one in our mission. And yes, I'll be having Filipino, children. The best way I can secure a future for my kids is to continue to help raise this country from poverty. Instead of building high walls in an exclusive subdivision to protect us from thieves and kidnappers, I will go to the breeding ground of thieves and kidnappers and help transform their lives.

Bo: Thank you for this interview. You don't know how much you inspired me.
Dylan: Thank you for being our partner in GK. I read KERYGMA every month and I'm happy to see GK stories in every issue.

Bo: It's our immense privilege to tell the world about it and ask others to join the miracle.
Dylan: To me, GK isn't just Gawad Kalinga. It is a part of "God's Kingdom" in this world. Thank you.

[KulasKusgan]

^nakakaantig ng puso. im inspired with that inteview.

[KulasKusgan]

among the list, smile citihomes 1/annex is the cheapest and one of the biggest floor area @ 60sqm. i wonder what it looks like. interesting.

[simply_me]

i am enlightened by that heart-warming story.. and we can do also "gawad kalinga" in our own little ways..

[amras]

wah.. now i feel guilty for buying a new mp3 player...

i wanna help too, kahit physical labor lang...

[ryanr]

Are cityland condos considered low cost?

[bustero]

They would be, strictly speaking, Low cost used to be classfied less than 500t, but I think they've been moved up to 750,000. Citiland has condo's lower than both but not in the prime areas.

[renell]

what would at least these 750 condos have for amenities?

[bustero]

By amenities I assume your talking about the building amenities and do not mean the condo features. most of these would have basic features like a small pool, gym room, common areas for parties. Not much else . Really very simple.

[a00556425]

I want to buy an apartment in Manila with a view like this!
You think this place is under P10 million?

[a00556425]

Is this a squater project? I wouldn't mind living here

[tyronne]

^haha! those ones almost look the same as some of the houses here in san francisco

[bustero]

Originally Posted by a00556425

I want to buy an apartment in Manila with a view like this!
You think this place is under P10 million?

yes i think this view is from penhurst place, a communidades type project, they're preselling a second one - kensington place - right now, i understand it's very reasonably priced.

There are many condo's in the fort that are less than 10,000,000 with fantastic views of makati,inf act we should get a phote from pacific plaza.

[bustero]

Originally Posted by a00556425

Is this a squater project? I wouldn't mind living here

Yes it is, it's funded by the dutch government. it actually is Bayani Fernando's project when he was mayor of marikina I believe, (the site is along the riverbanks of marikina river)

[Dvorak]

don't be mistaken.. those houses aren't what they looked they are.. puro harap lang yan.. yung likod nyan eh squatters pa rin.. they just changed the front so that it will look nice.

[Dvorak]

@ a00556425 - you can try Boni Ridge.. there are about 20+ units left.. price ranges from 6M to 11M..

[renell]

hmm.. yeah I remember that malapit yan sa SM Marikina and the Marcos Highway bridge, when you go from SM Marikina/Riverbank/Santa Lucia Mall into Eastwood and C-5 you pass by those. Well at least they have something solid, at least from the looks of it. No trains, and if they're coloured and painted, must be legal too...

hmm.. I see highrises painted in white primer. what's that?

[renell]

Originally Posted by bustero

By amenities I assume your talking about the building amenities and do not mean the condo features. most of these would have basic features like a small pool, gym room, common areas for parties. Not much else . Really very simple.

wow much more than I thought. I thought it'd be just like parking space and the condominium, which I would expect to be bare, except bathroom, closets, maybe TV set and kitchen.....