Informal settlers in high-risk areas to get P10.1B in housing fund

THE government plans to spend P10.1 billion to relocate more than 20,000 underprivileged families in Metro Manila living in slums, particularly those in high-risk zones, a lawmaker said Tuesday.

According to House committee on housing and urban development member and LPGMA party-list Representative Arnel Ty, the budget is part of the P20.8 billion proposed allocation for new public housing under the National Housing Authority (NHA) next year.

"The NHA is building in-city multi-level community homes for these hard up families. The new housing structures will be put up in Rizal province and in the cities of Parañaque, Las Piñas, Pasig, Caloocan, Malabon and Valenzuela," Ty said.

Citing data from the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), Ty said some four million Filipinos or 580,000 families are living in slums, including 105,000 households that reside in disaster-prone areas.

The lawmaker noted that slum dwellers are extremely exposed to filthy living conditions, constant health risks, and the hazards of harsh climate change.

"They also tend to pay more for basic utilities such as water and electricity, have lower productivity, and are exceptionally vulnerable to crime and violence," he said.

Meanwhile, the NHA will spend another P4.9 billion to provide new homes to a separate batch of more than 33,000 informal settlers in Metro Manila and elsewhere, including households displaced by critical public infrastructure projects.

An additional P5.6 billion would be spent to construct housing for some 20,000 families of uniformed personnel of the Armed Forces, National Police, Bureau of Fire Protection, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology, and the Bureau of Corrections.

The government is proposing a budget of P2.006 trillion for 2013. (Kathrina Alvarez/Sunnex)