The chairman of the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development on Tuesday admitted that the country’s housing needs could balloon to 7 million to 8 million before President Duterte’s term ends in 2022.
PDP-Laban Rep. and Committee Chairman Alfredo Benitez of Negros Occidental said this could happen if the government fails to act on the current housing problems besetting the country.
“Currently, we have 6 million housing needs. But this could increase [from] 7 million to 8 million if we do not act on it,” he said.
Benitez earlier said he is set to meet Duterte to tackle the country’s housing problems.
Package of measures
In the lower chamber, Benitez is pushing for a package of measures addressing the country’s housing needs.
These bills include transferring government offices to the provinces; establishing an on-site, in-city or near-city resettlement program for squatter families; and a resolution standardizing the definition of housing terminologies.
In his proposed Administrative Capital City Planning Act of 2016, Benitez said the bill calls for the creation of the Administrative Capital City Planning Commission to lead the development of a comprehensive plan to relocate government agencies and establish an administrative capital city outside of Metro Manila.
“There is a need to rethink and develop a master plan that will decongest Metro Manila. Relocation of capitals has already been done by several countries. Malaysia, for instance, built a new administrative capital to ease decongestion in Kuala Lumpur. Brazil relocated its capital to a more central location, closer to other regions and carved a new city out of wilderness in the Brazilian Highlands. South Korea is also in the process of transferring most of its government offices to a new administrative capital called Sejong City,” the lawmaker said.
The bill also proposes the creation of a commission that shall conduct a feasibility study of relocating most of the government agencies outside of Metro Manila. The commission will be placed under the Office of the President.
Terminologies
Benitez also refiled a joint resolution standardizing the definitions of housing terminologies.
According to the lawmaker, the lack of standard definitions of terminologies has slowed down the government and the private sectors’ housing programs.
The lawmaker said that joint resolution provides a standard definition to 379 housing terms. He added that the standard definitions were agreed upon by at least 15 agencies and organizations involved in the National Housing Summit conducted last year.
“The Committee on Housing and Urban Development of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement of the Senate recognize the imperative of formally ordaining and publishing a glossary of significant housing terminologies, standardizing the respective definitions of significant housing terms that will serve as a benchmark, for the guidance of the legislature and for adherence by the key shelter agencies, other appropriate agencies of the government, and other housing and urban development stakeholders in order to finally clear the air of confusion,” Benitez said.
Meanwhile, the housing committee has already endorsed for plenary approval a measure establishing a local government resettlement program that will implement an on-site, in-city or near-city strategy for squatters.
“Government programs before were focused on the relocation of informal settlers to areas outside Metro Manila where they have no access to livelihood and other basic services. The scenario is that the ISFs [informal-settler families] are pushed to go back to informal settlements in the urban centers again because of their need to find a source of income for their family’s daily needs,” he added.
Under the bill, socialized housing and resettlement projects shall be near areas where employment opportunities are accessible to the extent feasible.
It also said the government agencies dealing with the provision of skills and livelihood training, development of livelihood programs and grant of livelihood, namely, the departments of Labor and Employment, Social Welfare and Development and Science and Technology; the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority; and Philippine Trade and Training Center shall give priority to the beneficiaries of the program.
Kadamay ‘occupation’
Benitez also said members of the Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) cannot occupy the government housing units in Bulacan for free.
The lawmaker has filed a resolution for a House probe on the recent takeover of government housing units in Bulacan by at least 1,000 homeless families. He said these incidents in Pandi and San Jose del Monte, Bulacan, underscore the need for government to treat the worsening housing crisis with utmost urgency.
Benitez said 5,000 individuals or 1,000 families are currently occupying housing units in different areas, namely, the San Jose Heights, Villa Elise, Pandi Residences 3, Pandi Village 2 and Padre Pio.
“The said takeover of the housing units should be an opportunity for Congress to look into the current resettlement programs of the government as it is incumbent upon the Philippine Congress to oversee the implementation of laws in order to identify possible and necessary programs and policy interventions that will lead toward the realization of the original objectives of the enacted policies,” he said.
On March 8 a group of urban-poor families belonging to the group marched to the government housing sites in the Bulcacan to occupy the vacant housing units developed by the National Housing Authority.