IN what could be perceived as a sweeping response to Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) concurrent chairman, Vice President Noli ‘Kabayan’ De Castro’s call for the private sector’s expanded participation in the housing industry, private developers led by the Phinma Property Holdings Corp. yesterday vowed to put up more houses  in the country particularly in Quezon City.

 

Phinma president Willy Uy said his firm is undertaking another housing project in Mindanao Avenue in Quezon City aside from the Sunny Villas, Phinma’s mass housing project in Pearl St., Commonwealth Avenue, East Fairview, QC, which was inaugurated last week.

 

“This is Phinma’s way of showing more participation in the housing industry as called for by the vice-president,” Uy said, adding that “serving the Filipinos particularly our homeless countrymen is driving Phinma to exert more effort to become true partners of the government for development.”

 

Earlier, De Castro urged private developers and banking institutions to be more aggressively involved in housing as he pointed out that the government cannot implement the shelter program without their help.

 

And as a bonus, the local government of Quezon City also expressed an all out support to De Castro’s call. QC Mayor Feliciano Belmonte said in response to the housing needs of his constituents, he would prioritize housing programs in the city with help of developers like Phinma.

 

To demonstrate his appreciation, De Castro lauded Belmonte for turning Quezon City as one of the few local governments that do not heavily rely on the national government’s financial help. “Without asking money from Malacañang, the Quezon City local government under the leadership of Mayor Belmonte has efficiently used its funds in bringing development in the city,” De Castro said. “How I wish other local governments can replicate what Quezon City has done,” said De Castro who led the inaugural ceremonies for Sunny Villas.

 

Funded by the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) or PAG-IBIG, Sunny Villas is Phinma’s answer to the shelter requirements of low-income earning Filipinos who want decent housing within a city.

 

Also present during Sunny Villa’s inauguration were other local government officials led by QC Councilor Ariel Inton of District 4, which covers the housing project.