Refer to: Ms. Dale Zapata 8332148

PNP HOUSING PROJECT

16 May 2006

At the Tarlac PNP housing project launch VP urges beneficiaries to value and preserve what is given them. Citing the daily hazards that policemen face in the performance of their duties that even require them to lay their lives on the line, Vice President Noli ‘Kabayan’ De Castro, concurrently chairman of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) strongly urged Tarlac policemen to cherish and safeguard with the same fervor the housing opportunity presented them by the combined efforts of the government and the private sector represented by the Gawad Kalinga.

Vice President and concurrent HUDCC chair Noli ‘Kabayan’ De Castro leads the Kalinga Special Housing Project launching in Camp Macabulos, San Vicente, Tarlac City. De Castro urged Tarlac policemen to cherish and safeguard the housing opportunity presented them by the combined efforts of the government and the private sector represented by the Gawad Kalinga. Cementing the blocks with Vice President Noli ‘Kabayan’ De Castro is Gawad Kalinga Executive Director Antonio Meloto with Tarlac City Mayor Genaro Mendoza, and Deputy Chief PNP for Administration PDDG Oscar Calderon looking over. (OVP phot by Egay Montaña)

At the PULIS KALINGA MACABULOS PILOT HOUSING PROJECT launch and the signing of the memoranda of agreement among the sectors involved in the project in Camp Macabulos in Tarlac City, Vice President De Castro disclosed that while government is prioritizing the housing needs of the informal sector, notably those along the right-of-way of the PNR North and South lines, the housing sector is also attending to the housing needs of the government sector, particularly the low-salaried employees. Under the Institutional Housing Program of the government, priority is given to the needs of the teachers, soldiers, policemen, and LGU employees.

Kaya naman dapat ay pahalagahan ninyo ang benepisyong ito. Kung may mga requirements, lakarin po natin. Yung mga kaukulang obligasyon, bayaran po natin. Lahat po naman iyan ay para rin sa inyong pamilya, at ang kapalit ng inyong pagsisikap ay sarili ninyong bahay at lupa.

Vice President De Castro also revealed that the housing project is a concept of the PNP through its personnel housing assistance program with the valuable assistance of the Gawad Kalinga.

The Vice President further related that the national government supported this cause through Proclamation No. 607 signed by President Arroyo allocating some 6.28 hectares of land for PNP off-site housing within Camp Macabulos.

The development of the proclaimed land would be funded by the local housing fund of Congressman Noynoy Aquino, in the amount of P3.136 million while the construction of the 50 housing units will be sponsored by the Gawad Kalinga, in cooperation with the local government of Tarlac, the PNP and the national Housing Authority.

The AFPSLAI, for its part, will donate P6 million for the construction of 200 more housing units that would cost P60,000 per unit. Apart form this, an additional P30,000 per beneficiary would be available from the Public Safety Mutual Benefit Financial Institution (PSMBFI).