Housing sector to get P2.7B boost

Housing agencies will get a total of P2.7 billion in new funding next year to support government’s socialized housing program.

Senate Majority Leader Loren Legarda said the fresh funding would help government achieve its goal of providing some 150,000 urban poor families the opportunity to acquire housing lots under the Community Mortgage Program (CMP).

Legarda also said government plans to pursue its target of building around 100,000 low-cost housing units every year for salaried employees and wage earners, plus another 50,000 houses for "informal settlers" or squatter families.

She said the P2.7-billion allocation would go to the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board, National Housing Authority, National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. and the Home Guaranty Corp.

The P2.7-billion allotment does not include the housing funds at the disposal of the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund), the Social Security System and the Government Service Insurance System, she added.

Of the P2.7 billion, the senator said some P1.6 billion would be spent for resettlement and the CMP.

She said priority resettlement would be accorded marginal families residing in hazard zones such as waterways, along railroad tracks and those in flood prone areas as well as those who would be displaced as a result of new public infrastructure development projects.

Under the CMP, informal settlers may obtain low-cost loans of up to P120,000 per family-beneficiary in order to acquire land tenure and housing security.

Of the amount, P80,000 may be used to acquire a developed lot and the balance may be used to build or improve a small house.

Studies have shown that government would have to spend some P50 billion annually over the next 10 years to be able to provide shelter to the estimated 4.3 million homeless families nationwide, according to Legarda.