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Publish Date : 29-Feb-2016

The House Committee on Housing and Urban Development has approved for plenary approval a bill including party-list representatives in the implementation of the local housing program.

The committee chaired by Rep. Alfredo B. Benitez (3rd District, Negros Occidental) has approved House Bill 6417 as a substitute bill to House Bill 2694 and House Resolutions 277 and 560 principally authored by Rep. Catalina G. Leonen-Pizarro (Party-list, ABS) and Rep. Winston Castelo (2nd District, Quezon City), respectively.

Benitez said the party list solons will act as proponent of the socialized housing projects for their respective constituencies in selected urban and urbanizable area in all congressional districts.

Leonen-Pizarro said it is the opportune time to provide for a free housing party list representatives program to the citizenry just like providing cash subsidies through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to alleviate poverty, with preference to those marginalized and underprivileged who belong to the poorest of the poor.

"There is an urgent need to afford our marginalized and underprivileged but deserving citizenry non-recoverable housing projects program and expand the coverage of such by including newly created districts and elected party-lists' constituencies as beneficiaries," Leonen-Pizarro said.

The bill seeks to amend RA 7835 to conform not only to the programs of the government but as well as to afford the Filipino people their long-cherished dreams of owning the roofs over their heads.

Castelo said the Constitution mandates the State to uplift the conditions of the underprivileged and homeless citizens in urban and resettlement areas by making available to them decent housing at affordable cost, basic services and employment opportunities.

The bill seeks to amend Section 4(E) by including the phrase "proposed by incumbent members of the House of Representatives, both district and party-list, for their respective constituencies."

The proposed amendment to Section 4(E) also includes this paragraph: "When the Local Housing Program fund is used for land acquisition, land development or housing construction, the costs shall be recovered under liberalized terms that ensure low interest rates and longer amortization periods. However, where the fund is used for housing-related components such as survey and titling, provision or repair of community facilities and utilities, as well as implementation of livelihood projects, the costs shall be treated as a grant."

The measure also mandates that the use of the Local Housing Program fund for regular housing projects, which include land acquisition, land development or housing construction shall be cost-recoverable but under liberalized terms that ensure low interest rates and longer amortization periods.

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