Developers welcome government housing program

The Subdivision and Housing Developers Association (SHDA) has welcomed President Arroyo’s recent order reaffirming the adoption of mass housing as a centerpiece program in the poverty alleviation efforts of her administration.

Mariano D. Martinez, Jr., SHDA national president, cited Executive Order No. 20 recently issued by the President, which also further strengthens the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC), as the sole lead agency in the implementation of the shelter program of the government.

SHDA is the country’s prime organization of subdivision developers and housing builders supplying housing units under the shelter program.

"Mrs. Arroyo’s reaffirmation of the provision of decent and affordable housing to the poor, as an essential requirement towards the alleviation of poverty, augurs well for the many who are homeless as well as for the private sector which has been mandated as the engine of growth in the delivery of housing units," Martinez said.

Martinez also hailed the President for declaring housing as a centerpiece program for the reduction of poverty, which is one of her avowed pillars of good governance.

The SHDA head pointed out that housing is not just a mere social intervention as it also generates multiple economic benefits to the marginalized sectors of society, such as the provision of employment and promotional of entrepreneurial activities.

A program for mass housing also results in the pump-priming of the economy and the stimulation of growth in all sectors, Martinez added.

Meanwhile, the Bureau of Treasury has released to the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC) a net total of P291-million in government subsidy to finance the loans for land purchase and housing acquisition by the homeowners’ associations of informal settlers under the NHMFC’s Community Mortgage Program (CMP).

Angelico T. Salud, NHMFC president, said that the subsidy released is part of the allocation for CMP under the 1999 general appropriations act (GAA) amounting to a total of P644-million already covered by a corresponding statement of allocation release order (SARO) issued by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

The fund will benefit a total of 11,640 urban poor families whose average CMP loans for home acquisition are at the level of P25,000 per beneficiary.

Prior to this, NHMFC had not received any fund release since the start of the Estrada Administration in 1998 and the agency had to rely on its equity funds, borrowings and loan collections to sustain home lending for the informal settlers, Salud pointed out.

NHMFC is also working for the release of outstanding fund balances for CMP under the 199 GAA and some P1.78-billion under the year 2000 GAA, he added.