Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 16) — After lying idle for years, most of the 55,000 houses built by the government for low-ranking police and military personnel have been reawarded to government workers and informal settlers, according to the National Housing Authority.
“Naiwan na lang sa atin [What’s left] is 3,800 of the 55,000. So, we are open to any persons interested (in) the 3,800 (housing units) nationwide,” NHA General Manager Marcelino Escalada, Jr. said during a Senate hearing on the proposed rental subsidy program on Wednesday.
The NHA website said target beneficiaries include informal settler families in danger areas or those displaced by state infrastructure projects, and government employees staying in areas where the housing projects are located.
In 2018, President Rodrigo Duterte signed Joint Resolution No. 2, allowing the NHA to reallocate the units earlier awarded by the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces to uniformed personnel. It followed a controversial housing tug-of-war as members of the urban poor group Kadamay occupied over 5,000 idle units. Escalada said more than 51,000 houses have been distributed.
“These are awarded not anymore to the original beneficiaries of AFP-PNP but to the government officials, government functionaries, barangay officials, and ISFs,” Escalada explained.
But Senator Francis Tolentino, chair of the committee on urban planning, housing, and resettlement, questioned why many housing units in Cavite still appeared to be vacant.
“Marami po akong nakita, kung naiaward niyo na yun, pero bakante pa. Marami namang nangangailangan ng pabahay na nagsisiksikan pa sa Metro Manila,” he said.
[Translation: I saw many, if you have awarded them, why are they still vacant? Many people crowding Metro Manila are in need of housing.]
The lawmaker from Cavite suggested crafting a policy wherein units that remain unoccupied for three years, even if fully amortized, would be taken by the NHA in exchange for 30-40% of the payment made, and given to “more needy” beneficiaries.
Escalada welcomed Tolentino’s proposal. He said the housing officials’ hands are tied and they are hoping to expand their mandate through a law extending the NHA’s corporate term beyond 2025.
“Here in our proposed charter, we are very aggressive to observe the nonpayment as well as non-occupancy,” he said. “If and when the original beneficiary does not occupy, therefore the actual need of housing is no longer there and therefore he (is no longer) qualified to a particular public housing.”
Escalada revealed another issue: beneficiaries renting out the government units at a higher rate.
“My instruction was to cancel the award because kumikita pa si original awardee. Our housing project is only 250, 300, 500 (pesos) per month and they are renting it out at 3,000, 4,000 (pesos),” he said.
House Bill No. 8736, one of the measures being tackled by the Senate committee, seeks to establish a rental subsidy rate of ₱3,500 which will be given to beneficiaries per month until the completion of the permanent housing project intended for them. It was approved by the House of Representatives in March. Should this be passed into law, beneficiaries would be those displaced by government projects and disasters, Escalada said.
The Presidential Commission For The Urban Poor said the government does not have an exact number of informal settlers to date.
