A total of 10,000 social housing units may soon rise in the Cordillera to provide decent, comfortable, and resilient shelters to those who have yet to have their own residences.
Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development Regional Director, Engr. Maria O. Amoroso, said their office has been given a target to build 10,000 houses in the region for 2022 to 2023 under the current administration’s Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program.
The housing project aims to address the housing backlogs in the country.
Amoroso said the Cordillera has 130,000 housing backlog as of 2021 based on the data of the agency’s Public Housing and Settlement Division, which conducts local shelter planning to assist local government units.
She, however, said the number is tentative and subject to validation.
Amoroso said the number of houses to be built per LGU will depend on its need. For Baguio City, Mayor Benjamin Magalong has submitted 10 sites for housing projects.
Aside from Baguio where the Luna Terraces social housing project is underway, the DHSUD intends to bring the pabahay program to provinces, especially those without their own house in far-flung areas and those who have to be relocated for living in critical areas.
The DHSUD, in partnership with the LGU, has started implementing the project in Abra to benefit particularly those whose houses were totally damaged due to the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that hit the province and some parts of Northern Luzon in July.
In an earlier statement, the DHSUD said it is eyeing three resettlement sites for earthquake-affected residents that can accommodate 930 housing units for Tayum, Bucay, and Peñarrubia.
Amoroso said they will also enter a memorandum of understanding with the La Trinidad LGU to proceed with the housing program intended for residents affected by typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng victims way back 2009.
There will also be housing projects in Bauko in Mountain Province and Lamut, Ifugao, among other LGUs.
The DHSUD, Chamber of Real Estate and Builders’ Associations, LGU representatives, and partners held the Regional Housing Summit from Oct. 18 to 21 in Baguio City with the theme “Uplifting Filipino lives through zoning and enforcement”, also to emphasize the importance of resiliency in developing or introducing any infrastructure such as housing.
“Due to the topography of the Cordillera which makes land supply limited, we need to integrate climate and disaster risk assessment in determining areas that are suitable for housing development,” Amoroso said.
DHSUD is currently engaging with LGUs for the pabahay program for its successful implementation since “shelter is every family’s basic need.” – Hanna C. Lacsamana
April 19, 2024
