on Saturday, September 16, 2017

The Victorias City government and Canetown Development, a subsidiary of Victorias Milling Co., signed an agreement on the perpetual right to use of the 10-hectare land in Brgy. XIX-A, Victorias City, at the Mayor's Conference Room, yesterday, a press release from Victorias City Hall said.

The donated land will be used as a housing relocation site of the informal settlers within VMC and Daan Banwa.

Victorias City was represented by Mayor Francis Frederick Palanca, VMC, by its president and CEO Eduardo Concepcion, and CDC by its president and general manager Roy Hautea.

Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (Negros, 3rd district), head of Committee on Housing in the House of Representatives and lead convenor of the Visayan Bloc, also joined the signing, the press release said.

Palanca fully supports the program of Benitez and his initiation of the donation from VMC,and also expressed his gratitude to VMC for the life-changing deed, the press release said.

“A big part of what Victorias is now, we owe to VMC. We are most grateful to VMC for attending to the needs of its close to, or over a thousandinformal settlers,” he said.

Benitez lauded VMC, its management and board for its generous gesture with the assurance from the local and national government, “We will make sure that it is properly designed, properly planned to create a viable community so that the donation does not go to waste,” the press release said.

“What we are having now is part of VMC being a good corporate citizen”, Concepcion said.*