1-M shelter bid draws 28 LGUs
The Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development had signed deals with 28 local governments for its campaign to build 1 million houses every year under President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos’ Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program.
Of the 28 LGUs, 11 have already broken ground including the cities of Quezon and Marikina in the National Capital Region.
Among the latest LGU-enrollees are Bohol province, the cities of Mandaue and Tagbilaran; Panglao, Bohol, and six towns from the provinces of Oriental and Occidental Mindoro.
DHSUD Secretary Jose Rizalino Acuzar noted that the overwhelming support of the LGUs indicates that the housing program is on the right track.
“With the President’s Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program, I know we are off to a good start. I can see this program as the embodiment of the dream of every Filipino family wanting to have a house of their own, “Acuzar said.
“We aim to make this dream a reality in the next six years of this administration,” he added.
LGUs play key role
Acuzar stressed the LGUs play a very important role in the program from the planning stages up to the actual turnover and maintenance.
LGUs also play an active role in identifying idle government lands that can be tapped for the government’s housing program.
“Under this program, we are introducing an innovative framework that will ease the burden brought by two major bottlenecks in housing production and finance — affordability and access to funds. We are now exploring out-of-the-box concepts and financial structures which could potentially be the breakthrough strategies to arrest the homelessness woes in the country,” he said.
“The LGUs play a vital role from the conceptualization of the project up to the identification of beneficiaries and more importantly the sustainability of the program,” the housing czar further explained.
Under the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program, DHSUD is tasked to build 1 million houses annually in the next six years to address the country’s housing backlog pegged at more than 6.5 million units.