THE Cagayan de Oro City Council on Monday, December 3, expressed support for the creation of the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development, which will act as the sole policy-making body for all housing and urban development concerns.
The city legislators passed a resolution to support the House Bill No. 6775 and Senate Bill no. 1578, which is now waiting for President Rodrigo Duterte's signature.
"It is now in MalacaƱang, and we are hoping for its approval. Mas maayo man gyud tong naay nakatutok sa housing programs and guide our urbanization," said Councilor Ian Mark Nacaya, who sponsored the resolution.
The bill was approved last October by the Senate.
The proposed department consolidates all government housing agencies and combines the administrative functions of the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council (HUDCC) and the planning and regulatory functions of the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB).
Nacaya said the creation of the department in the national level might help local government units streamline their settlement programs.
Here in Cagayan de Oro, meanwhile, the city government said it projects a housing backlog of 79,073 households in the next eight to 10 years and will need at least P28.5 billion to finance this.
The City Housing and Urban Development Department (CHUDD) disclosed that from only 34,898 in 2013, the number of informal settlers rose to 51,437 as of August 2018.