San Lorenzo Ruiz Resettlement Area   was used to be a project of former First Lady Imelda R. Marcos for the poor. When Joseph Estrada became the Mayor of San Juan, he requested her to spearhead the project.

Estrada had turned the area to a relocation site for the underprivileged living in his municipality (San Juan) in order for them to have a place to live.

The place used to be a dumping site. However, in the early 90s, garbage was moved out of the place. The whole area had undergone reconstruction to be suited as a real resettlement site for the people - roads were one by one made, school was constructed and concrete residences were started to be built.

When Estrada became President in 1998, he put an effort to build five stories tenement houses to serve the needs of families who cannot afford to pay for their own houses. During his 62^nd birthday, which he celebrated in the resettlement area, he inaugurated the said medium-rise apartments and awarded them to several families.

During also his term as President, Estrada had initiated to further improve the living conditions of the people living in the relocation site. He allotted budgets to build more tenements for homeless families. He even directed the construction of a bridge that connects the town of Taytay and the site.

The instability of the government during the impeachment trial in the late 2000, that led to the ousting of Erap in January 2001, had given terror to the people. With the controversies Estrada faced on the wealth he possesses and his properties, the area had been questioned as to whom it really belonged to and where the money allotted for the construction went, leaving behind 16 more tenements unfinished. Most people living the area were afraid of what their fate would be with the new administration under Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.