Housing for poor, after Mandaue, other LGUs may now follow suit

CEBU, Philippines - A representative of the World Bank has encouraged other local government units in the country to help upgrade the living conditions of informal settlers in their respective communities by providing them with decent homes.

Soomsook Boonyabancha, who is also the secretary general of the Asian Coalition for Housing Rights, said cities should address this challenge on a city-wide scale.

Boonyabancha and officials of the Social Housing Finance Corporation made a two-day visit in Mandaue City as part of a program promoting the city-wide development approach.

The approach aims to upgrade and improve the living conditions of informal settlers.

So far, there are only two cities in the Philippines which have implemented the city-wide development approach, namely the cities of Mandaue and Iloilo.

Boonyabancha lauded both cities for their efforts to relocate all their informal settlers and for having established a socialized housing scheme for them through the collaborative efforts of the community stakeholders and the city government.

 "Cities should bring together the private sector, non-government organizations and the people from the community to address the problem," she said.

Last Friday, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes and Maria Ana Oliveros, SHFC president, signed a memorandum of understanding that aims to strengthen the relationship and partnership in providing more socialized housing projects.

The MOU also encourages promotion of the city-wide development approach in upgrading the informal settlers' conditions, officials said.

The signing was witnessed by President Jejomar Binay, who chairs the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council, along with representatives from World Bank, The Asian Coalition for Housing Right and seven other Metro Manila cities. — (FREEMAN)