Source: Business Mirror
VICE President Jejomar C. Binay said the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) is applying the Aquino administration’s public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement in the shelter sector to considerably cut a 3.6-million housing gap.
Speaking at the 1st Philippine Urbanization Forum at the University of the Philippines-Diliman on Wednesday, the Vice President said the government is studying proposals to develop portions of previously declared housing sites as commercial areas “to make them the enabling component for socialized and low-cost housing.”
Mr. Binay disclosed that there are over a hundred proclamations issued by Malacañang for housing purposes but he noted that “most of these lands remain underdeveloped.”
“We need the private sector to convert these idle and underutilized government lands into pre-planned self-sustaining green communities,” he added.
Mr. Binay explained that since the resources of government are limited, “we will fast-track the implementation of our sustainable communities, including the immediate development of other proclaimed sites for housing under PPP schemes.”
In the same forum, Mr. Binay also enlisted concerned civil society groups to help carry out reforms being instituted by the HUDCC in the housing sector.
“We would like to solicit your support to push for the strict enforcement of RA [Republic Act] 7279 or the Urban Development Housing Act,” he said.
Moreover, Mr. Binay batted for volunteerism “as a means to directly link the public sector, the private sector, and civil society organizations in reengineering our settlements and involvement of our civil society organizations and people’s organizations in estate management, particularly in providing training and livelihood.”
The Vice President revealed that the country’s key shelter agencies are currently formulating housing policies aimed at significantly reducing the 3.6-million housing gap by half in 2016.
According to Mr. Binay, the Philippines is one of the fastest urbanizing countries in East Asia. “But while its cities serve as engines of growth, they also suffer from issues like high poverty incidence, environmental degradation, and a lack of decent housing resulting to the proliferation of slums and informal settlements.”
He said HUDCC is working with local government units in order to build their capacities to carry out and implement their own housing programs.
“When economic progress takes place in the city, rural to urban migration certainly follows. This necessitates taking an active role in reaching out and talking to all stakeholders—the grass roots, the local government units, and the private sector, both in rural and urban areas,” Mr. Binay said.
