A GOVERNMENT shelter official is urging local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental to avail themselves of the Social Housing Finance Corporation (SHFC) housing loan services in providing housing needs of its constituents.
During the recent joint Provincial Development Council (PDC) and Provincial Peace and Order Council meeting at the Negros First Residences, SHFC president and lawyer Arnolfo Ricardo Cabling said the country has 6.5 million housing backlog and is still growing.
The housing agency he said offers lot and housing acquisition at an affordable rate of 4.5 percent per annum, 30 years to pay depending on the LGU's needs.
Beneficiaries may also opt to own a property through usufruct for 99 years, he added.
He cited San Carlos City that has a resettlement area having site development like road network, drainage, septic tank and lot but has no housing component. The city has entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the SHFC for a housing project.
San Carlos City alone could have around 20,000 to 50,000 housing needs and Bacolod City could have a bigger housing needs as a booming area, he said.
"There's a need to partner with LGUs. It is high time to give our constituents a comfortable shelter," Cabling said.
Negros Occidental is a fast developing province that has been hit by typhoons in the past.
"The law states that areas in danger zones must be secured," he pointed out.
He said the SHFC is exploring partnership with the Provincial Government to develop a housing project for provincial and national government employees.
SHFC is one of the government's shelter agencies and is attached with the Human Settlements.
"I hope LGUs here will work with us, after all we provided very flexible shelter solutions," he said. (PR)