CEBUANOS can soon avail themselves of affordable houses as the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and Cebu City Government have inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the construction of 30,000 housing units.
DHSUD Undersecretary Garry de Guzman and Mayor Michael Rama led the signing of the MOU Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, at the Cebu City Hall.
Under the “Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino Program” handled by the DHSUD, the beneficiaries will have to pay only P1,912 per month for 30 years to avail of the socialized housing.
For upgrading housing, the monthly amortization is P2,637, which is payable for 30 years, while the midrise and high-rise units will cost the beneficiary only P3,538 per month for 30 years.
According to De Guzman, the affordability of the housing units is a result of the government’s subsidization of the interest that will be incurred.
“That will be very affordable, especially to those who have stable income like government employees and all the other minimum wage earners will now have the opportunity to own a house,” said De Guzman.
De Guzman further said the program will emancipate informal settlers in the city and complement Rama’s vision of a Singapore-like Cebu City.
Now that the MOU has been signed, Rama said the City Government will conduct an inventory of its properties to determine the lots where the housing sites can be constructed.
The mayor added that those who will be displaced by the government’s ongoing clearing of structures built within the three-meter easement of rivers will be prioritized as beneficiaries of the housing program.
City Hall employees, teachers, police officers and other government workers can also avail themselves of the program once it is expanded, he said.
Rama also said that since the city is becoming compact and lots are expensive, it would be practical to build the housing units vertically like in a medium-rise building.
Collin Rosell, executive secretary of Rama, said one possible site for the housing program is in Barangay Kamagayan, and he added that housing units can also be constructed along coastal areas in the South Road Properties.
“Nakita na nato sa atoang presentation that there is an expected line of residential buildings along the coastal (area). Mao man na siya ang vision nato sa atoang Singapore-like Cebu City,” said Rosell.
Funding
De Guzman explained that the budget needed for the construction of the housing units will be sourced from the Home Development Mutual Fund (more popularly known as the Pag-Ibig Fund) and other government institutions.
He added that President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. has instructed these agencies to provide the developmental loan to the private developer or the local government units that will construct the housing units.
Once the units are ready for occupancy, the beneficiary will sign the “contract to sell” and this will be given to a bank or Pag-Ibig, which will now collect the monthly amortization for the units, he said.
According to De Guzman, there is a housing backlog of around 6.5 million in the country and they have been given a target by the administration to produce one million housing units per year.