Bacolod City (CNN Philippines) — Sen. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito and Negros Occidental Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez are pushing for the enactment of laws to address the massive housing backlog in the country.
The lawmakers made their pitch on Wednesday (October 7) in Bacolod at the 24th National Convention of Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations (CREBA).
Ejercito heads the Senate Committee on Urban Planning, Housing and Resettlement, and Benitez heads the House Committee on Housing and Urban Development.
Benitez said the housing backlog, according to projections, would hit 5.56 million units by the end of 2016, since housing projects were not a priority of the government.
Instead, he said, the Aquino administration focused on increasing its investment in social services, which amounted to P952.7 billion in 2015.
Out of the entire budget for social services, the housing and community development allocation was 1.32 percent in 2014 and decreased to 0.40 percent in 2015, Benitez said.
For his part, Ejercito said he would push for the passage of various urgent bills such as the Balanced Housing Development Program Bill ( SBN 2947), the bill creating the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (SBN 2691), and the bill establishing on-site in-city or near-city resettlement programs (SBN 2852).
Ejercito said last measure would provide more opportunities for the underprivileged and homeless Filipinos to own homes from private subdivisions and condominium projects.
