Buhay at Bahay: Quezon City launches poverty reduction program

MANILA, Philippines — In line with the national and city governments’ goal of reducing poverty, the office of Quezon City Second District Councilor Mikey Belmonte yesterday launched its flagship program for the year dubbed “Buhay at Bahay: Urban Poor and Human Settlement Service Caravan 2023.”

“Addressing poverty is complex, but we have to start somewhere, and the efforts have to be deliberate and calculated. That is why we have established this convergence with like-minded national agencies and the private sector,” Belmonte said in Filipino during the launch of the program at Commonwealth High School.

“With a whole of nation approach in battling poverty, we have better and more sustainable chances of really making a difference in the lives of our QCitizens,” he added.

Highlighting the launch was the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) among local executives, top officials of various government agencies and private entities and representatives of homeowner’s associations (HOAs) in the city.

Under the MOU, Belmonte’s office shall undertake the overall coordination and implementation of the caravan while the partner-agencies and companies shall provide the necessary interventions to specific sectors in the urban poor communities such as HOAs, students and teachers, senior citizens, informal settler families and persons with disabilities, among others.

Belmonte said the program involves creating “model communities,” where there will be access to affordable housing units, water and electricity and livelihood, among others.

The government signatories of the MOU include the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD), National Housing Authority (NHA), National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (NHMFC), Social Housing Finance Corp. (SHFC), Home Development Mutual Fund or Pag-IBIG Fund, Cooperative Development Authority, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor.

Among those who attended were DHSUD Secretary Jose Acuzar, NHMFC president Renato Tobias, and Presidential Commission on Urban Poor chairman Usec. Elpidio Jordan Jr.

For the private sector, the signatories include PLDT-Smart Foundation, Smart Communications Inc., Manila Electric Co. (Meralco), One Meralco Foundation, Maynilad Water Services Inc. (Maynilad), Metro Pacific Health Tech Corp. (MPHTC) and Premier 101 Healthcare Management Inc.

“The fight against poverty is indeed long and arduous, but with the unparalleled commitment of our partners to extend their services to our urban poor communities, we are inspired and we remain hopeful that we will have significant impacts in reducing poverty in the city,” Belmonte said.

He said the program was timely as it would complement the social programs of the national government, especially the Marcos administration’s flagship mass housing initiative dubbed Pambansang Pabahay Para sa Pilipino Program (4PH).

“On the part of the DHSUD, we will offer not just housing, but what we call decent ‘human settlements,’” Acuzar said.

Acuzar had earlier stated that among the key features of the 4PH is the relocation of informal settler families (ISFs) to in-city housing sites where their sources of livelihood are found.

Under the MOU, the DHSUD, through its key shelter agencies NHA, NHMFC, SHFC and Pag-IBIG Fund, shall offer housing loans to members of HOAs in Quezon City at low interest rates.

PLDT-Smart, meanwhile, committed to streamline the service applications of teachers, students and HOAs, and also agreed to provide consultations to teachers and students of the city for the applicable Smart plans for them to cope with the hybrid mode of learning as well as assistance in the SIM card registration of QC residents.

Meralco, for its part, committed to ensure electric services to beneficiaries of socialized housing projects in the city as well as provide support to LGU-initiated streetlight installations, while Maynilad committed to prioritize the improvement of water pipes in identified communities and conduct community briefings for service improvement projects.

The MPHTC committed to offer medical consultation services to priority ISFs and resettlement communities, while Premiere 101 agreed to provide laboratory assistance to QC residents in need of eye cataract screening, urinalysis, x-ray, ultrasound and free dialysis in all its accredited clinics.

In a speech, QC Vice Mayor Gian Carlo Sotto said the city government aims to replicate Belmonte’s project in all districts in the city.

“This is just the start. We will have a similar program in every district of our city,” Sotto said, adding that the program aims to empower the residents of urban poor communities to eventually make them self-sufficient and self-reliant.

“What we want is to teach you to stand on your own feet, so that time will come that you will no longer depend on reliefs from the government. We want you to have decent jobs, homes and be self-reliant,” Sotto said in Filipino, addressing the members of various HOAs who attended the caravan.

Former House speaker and QC mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. also attended the launching of the program to show his support to his grandson, Mikey.

“This (program) is a step to further make QC a world-class city. You can always count on our city government,” the elder Belmonte told attendees in Filipino.