INFORMAL Settler Families (ISF) and ordinary Filipino workers will benefit from the government’s in-city housing programs, according to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD).
DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino L. Acuzar said the government aims to undertake in-city housing projects in order to plug the country’s housing backlog. This will also allow ISFs and workers to live near their sources of livelihood.
Acuzar said ISFs and workers can turn to local government units (LGUs) to apply for these government housing programs. The target of the government is to build a million houses annually to address the 6.5 million housing backlog.
“Kahit hindi ISF, meron din sila. Kailangan lamang nilang pumunta sa LGU para mag-apply para sa pabahay ng gobyerno,” said Acuzar. [Even if they are not ISFs, they can access these projects, they only need to go to the LGU to apply for the government’s housing program.]
Acuzar said these projects that the DHSUD plans to build will be turned over to LGUs who will be tasked in maintaining the units. This is the reason these projects will be owned by LGUs, he explained.
The housing czar estimated that each housing project to be launched in the country under the priority housing program would take “a year and a half” to be fully constructed, with the quality at par with township projects of private developers.
“We are developing townships. Kung ano ang nakikita ninyo sa mga private development, ganun din ang sa government,” Acuzar said.
Data showed that the country’s housing backlog is pegged at more than 6.5 million units, 3.7 million of which are ISFs. Of the number of ISFs, 500,000 are situated in the National Capital Region, particularly along hazardous areas.
Earlier, Acuzar attended the groundbreaking of a housing project at the Harmony Hills Terraces in Batasan Hills, Quezon City. The DHSUD and Quezon City recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for this project.
Under the MOU, the Quezon City LGU, in support of the said program, committed to allocate to the DHSUD a parcel of its land for the development of the foregoing housing project.
The Quezon City LGU is also tasked to expedite the processing of required permits and licenses to be issued by local authorities for the project’s full implementation.
It will also carry out the beneficiary listing which will include social preparation, ISF census enumeration, socioeconomic profiling and the establishment of social parameters.
The MOU mandates the DHSUD to facilitate, either directly or through its KSAs, the implementation of the housing projects in collaboration with the LGU and other relevant agencies.
Image credits: Nonie Reyes