To
help solve housing woes and decongest Metro Manila
KABAYAN BARES FOUR-PRONGED STRATEGY
AT CREBA MEET
28 July 2005
Acknowledging
that the enormous task ahead in easing the housing problem in the
country, Vice
President and concurrent chairman of the Housing and Urban Development
Coordinating Council Noli ‘Kabayan’ De Castro hailed the partnership of
the
private sector with the government’s key shelter agencies, in
coordination with
the local government units, and encouraged them to further strengthened
their
bond to respond adequately to the projected need for 3.7 million
housing units
from year 2005 to 2010.
Vice-President
De Castro issued his call at the 2nd Local Government
Units-Private
Sector Housing Conference of the CREBA Social Housing Foundation Inc.
(CSHFI),
social arm of Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Association (CREBA)
at the
Philippine Trade Training Center where he was the guest speaker.
Sa
tema tema pa lang ng inyong
pagtitipon: “sandaang bahay bawat
probinsiya, lungsod, munisipyo at pribadong sektor”, palatandaan na ito
ng
inyong interes na isulong ang mga programang pabahay ng pamahalaan.
Kinikilala
rin nito ang malaking papel ng sama-samang pagkilos ng pamahalaan at
pribadong
sektor sa programa ng pabahay.
The
Vice President admitted that of the total demand for housing units
until year
2010, only 1.1 million shelter secured units or 33% can be shouldered
by the
government while the rest would have to be filled up by the private
sector with
the help of the local government units.
Towards
this goal, Vice-President De Castro disclosed that new housing and
community
centers in different parts of the country are being established. And
armed with
the lessons learned from past experiences, the following policies and
programs
are being implemented:
First,
the HUDCC bent on making the housing sector investor friendly by
pushing before
the Department of Finance for the exemption from value added tax houses
that
are valued P2 million or less and increasing the ceiling for socialized
housing
to P300,000.00 from P225,000.00 among others.
Second,
the government has extended continued support for tested housing
multi-stakeholder and cost-effective housing programs like Gawad
Kalinga and
Habitat for Humanity while programs like the orderly, just and humane
relocation of informal settlers and the expansion of the micro housing
finance
initiatives through rural banks and microfinance institutions are being
implemented.
Third,
the capacity of the housing agencies have been strengthened through
initiatives
towards efficient financial management of housing programs, improvement
in the
collection efficiency on housing loans, disposition of non-performing
loans and
assets and the rehabilitation of non performing projects.
Lastly,
reinforce the ability of the local government units to immediately
address the
housing needs of their constituents through the establishment of
housing boards
in every city and municipality, efficient processing of housing permits
and
licenses and support the decentralization and devolution of functions
pertaining to urban development, planning, finance, at project
implementation
and management.
With
this strategy, Vice President De Castro is optimistic that the
combination of
the private sector and the local government units, with the full
support of the
government’s key shelter agencies, would overcome the challenges ahead
for
better housing prospects for the people.
Ref no.
VPMEDIA 05-098
Management Information Services
Division (MISD). All rights reserved.