Sa idinaos na Habitat for Humanity Philippines Housing Summit, iginiit ng kongresista ang agarang pagpapasa ng consolidated bill na makapagbibigay ng development, production at financing sa housing projects sa pamamagitan ng paglalaan ng P50 bilyon kada taon para sa konstruksyon ng mga bahay sa bansa.
Sinabi ng House Committee on Housing and Urban Development vice chairperson na pinoproseso na ng kanilang komite ang pag-finalize ng consolidated bill, na magbibigay ng P50 bilyong pondo kada taon, na tatawaging National Housing Development and Production Fund.
“The consolidated bill will allot P50 billion as initial seed money for the financing of public housing, resettlement program, government employees housing, subsidy for informal settlers, amortization support, housing program for calamity victims, among others,” saad ni Robes.
Dagdag nito, “It’s already in the final stages before the committee approves the final version of the proposed measure and we will work to have it approved before the current session adjourns.”
Kung hindi masosolusyunan housing backlog, lolobo aniya sa 22 milyong units ang kabuuang housing needs sa taong 2024.
“With such budget, it is estimated that the government can only build around 2,000 out of some 1.8 million homes it plans to build for informal settlers by 2022. This was confirmed by National Housing Authority (NHA) chief Marcelino Escalada Jr. himself in a recent budget hearing,” ani Robes.
Kaya aniya, “This is very alarming indeed and Congress should step in to reverse this to ensure that every Filipino family, especially the underprivileged, will have a decent house they can call their home.”